The United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) periodically releases series of data on various subjects. On the ONS Web site you can find the time series related to: quarter-to-quarter growth in GDP, business investment, and retail sales. For the latter, make sure you select the non-seasonally adjusted value for total retail sales (available on […]

The European Commission (EC) measures consumer and business confidence throughout the European Union (EU) through periodic Business and Consumer Surveys. Find the non-seasonally adjusted data for consumer confidence in EU member states on the Commission’s Web site (http://ec.europa.eu/). The EC also compiles macroeconomic data accessible through the AMECO database. Find the values of final consumption

Consider these two quotes concerning recent Federal Reserve policy On December 12, 2012 the Federal Reserve issued the following statement: “In particular, the Committee decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that this exceptionally low range for the federal funds rate will be

The Focus box “Can a Budget Deficit Reduction Lead to an Output Expansion? Ireland in the 1980s” provides an example of fiscal consolidation. Ireland had a large budget deficit in 1981 and 1982. a. What does a deficit reduction imply for the medium run and the long run? What are the advantages of reducing the

Canada in the 1990s and early 2000s seemed to embody the paradox encapsulated by the expression “expansionary austerity.” This means while the Liberals, who gained power after the 1993 federal elections, pursued a policy of drastic public spending cuts, the economy seemed to thrive well into the 2007–2008 global financial crises. a. Go to The

Label each of the following statements true, false, or uncertain. Explain briefly. a. If there are no statistical discrepancies, countries with current account deficits must receive net capital inflows. b. Although the export ratio can be larger than one —as it is in Singapore —the same cannot be true of the ratio of imports to

Each of the governments of Brazil and Turkey has issued bonds in Brazilian real (BRL) and Turkish liras (TRY), respectively. Assume that both are one-year bonds, i.e. paying the face value of the bonds in one year.  Suppose that the exchange rate (E) is 1 Brazilian Real = 0.79 Turkish Lira. The following table shows

Consider a world with three equal-sized economies (A, B, and C) and three goods (food, clothes, and cars). Assume that consumers in all three economies want to spend an equal amount on all three goods.  The following table shows the value of production of each good in the three economies. a. What is the GDP

Retrieve the nominal exchange rates between the euro (EUR) and the South African rand (ZAR) from the European Central Bank statistics section: “Euro foreign exchange reference rates.” It is quoted as ZAR per 1 EUR. a. According to the terminology of the chapter when the ex-change rate is quoted as ZAR per EUR which of

a. National saving is defined as private saving plus government surplus, that is, S+T−G. Using equation (18.5) describe the relation between current account deficit, net investment income, and the difference between saving and investment. b. Use the World Bank data base (http://data.worldbank.org/) to retrieve annual data for your country for nominal GDP, gross domestic investment