December 2020

Using data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve (FRED) (http://research.stlouisfed.org/ fred2/), analyze the money supply. a. Find the most recent values from FRED for the Currency Component of M1 (CURRNS), Total Checkable Deposits (TCDSL) and Excess Reserves of Depository Institutions (EXCRESNS). b. Using the data found above, calculate the value of the currency ratio. c. […]

Using data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve (FRED) (http://research.stlouisfed.org/ fred2/), analyze what happened to the money multiplier. a. Find data from FRED for Excess Reserves of Depository Institutions (EXCRESNS), the monetary base (AMBSL), M1 (M1SL) and M2 (M2SL). b. Calculate the M1 multiplier and the M2 multiplier. Graph the value of these multipliers since

Consider the following statement: “Because there will always be frictional and structural unemployment, there is no reason for government policymakers to be concerned about them. They should only be concerned about cyclicalunemployment.” Do you agree with this statement? Briefly explain.

April 2012, the unemployment rate fell from 8.2% to 8.1%, but the number of people in the labor force decreased by 342,000. Recent declines in the labor force have had a large effect on the unemployment rate. An article on USAToday. com noted that: “If the same percentage of adults were in the workforce today

Using data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve (FRED) (http://research.stlouisfed. org/fred2/), analyze the unemployment rate. a. Download monthly data on the U-3 unemployment rate (UNRATE) and the broader U-6 unemployment rate (U6RATE) from 1994 to the present. Chart the two data series in a graph. b. Calculate the average value and the standard deviation for

Using data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve (FRED) (http://research.stlouisfed. org/fred2/), analyze CPI (the consumer price index) and wages. a. Find the most recent values and the values from one year earlier from FRED for the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items (CPIAUCNS) and Average Hourly Earnings of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees:

Using data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve (FRED) (http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/), analyze the natural rate of unemployment. a. Download quarterly data on the natural rate of unemployment (NROU) from 1950 to the present. Chart the data series in a graph. b. The U-3 unemployment rate rose from 4.8% during the fourth quarter of 2007 when then

You may have heard a recession defined as two consecutive quarters of declining real GDP. In fact, though, the NBER does not use this rule of thumb in dating recessions. According to the NBER, the U.S. economy was in a recession from March 2001 to November 2001. The following table shows the growth rate of

What is an expansion? What is a recession? What is a macroeconomic shock? How do macroeconomic shocks relate to the business cycle? “Does the business cycle impose significant costs on the economy?”

What are sticky prices? What are two key factors that cause price stickiness? What effect might sticky prices have on an economy that has experienced a macroeconomic shock?