3.3 Macroeconomic Objectives (growth, unemployment, inflation) Flashcards
low and stable inflation and fiscal policy
- contractionary taxation policies
- promote price stability
- closes inflationary gap by reducing AD
Low unemployment and fiscal policy
- depends on type of unemployment
- fiscal policy best for cyclical unemployment
- expansionary fiscal policy i.e reduction in taxes or increased government spending
- increase AD and demand for labour
Promoting stable and long term economic growth through fiscal policy
- higher tax rates reduce incentives
- lower taxes attract FDI
- taxes must be high enough for government spending
fiscal policy reduce business cycle fluctuations
- reduce impacts of a recession by running a budget deficit
- budget deficit can be repaid during a boom when tax revenue is higher and less spending is required
Fiscal policy and equitable income distribution
- high marginal tax rates in a progressive tax system
- wealth taxes to fund the provision of essential services
- transfer payments like unemployment benefits, childcare grants, social housing or state pensions
Fiscal policy to promote external balance
- refers to nations exports being equal to imports ( x = m )
- indirect taxes on imports and subsidized exports
- external balance essential for long term growth and development
consequences of issues with external balance
- x > m = external disequilibrium leading to inflationary pressures
- M>X economy will face net withdrawals from circular flow of income
- overly protectionist measures likely to cause trade retaliation
issue with fiscal policy and unemployment
- best suited to deal with cyclical unemployment
- may not deal with root causes like incentives and wage acceptance
expansionary fiscal policy definition
demand-side policies used to stimulate the economy during an economic recession
benefits of expansionary fiscal policy
- boosts consumption and investment
- Keynesian economists believe there is a need for direct intervention through demand-side policies
- Keynesian believe necessary to stimulate growth to the full employment level of output
monetarist critiques of demand-side fiscal policy
- ineffective in the long run as they have no real effect on national output
- economy restores itself to full employment in the long run
- supply-side policies that reduce natural unemployment are more effective
- emphasize the importance of low inflation
contractionary fiscal policy
- used to reduce level of economuc activity by decreasing government spending or limiting consumption and investment.
- used to reduce inflationary pressures during booms
Keynesian multiplier
- Shown that any increase in the value of injections in the circular flow of income leads to a proportionally larger increase in aggregate demand
- knock on spending effects
- value of KM reduced by leakages and withdrawls
negative multiplier effect
- initial leakage leads to a greater than proportional fall in final real GDP
determinants of the size of the multiplier effect
- marginal propensity to consume
- marginal propensity to import
- marginal propensity to save
- marginal propensity to tax
marginal propensity to consume
- measures the proportion of an increase in household income that is spent on goods and services rather than saved
- MPC = Δ C ÷ ΔY
marginal propensity to import
- measures the proportion of an increase in household income that is spent on imports
- MPM = Δ M ÷ ΔY
Marginal propensity to save
- measure the proportion of an increase in household income that is saved rather than spent
- MPS = Δ S ÷ ΔY
Marginal propensity to tax
- proportion of each extra dollar of income that is taxed
- dependant on marginal tax rate paid by household
- MPT = Δ T ÷ ΔY
Formulas for Keynesian multiplier
- 1 ÷ ( 1 - MPC)
2. 1 ÷ ( MPS + MPT + MPM)
Marginal propensity to withdraw
sum of MPS + MPT + MPM
employment
- the use of the factors of production in the production process
- usually refers to labour resources
labour suppluy
number of people willing and able to work at the prevailing equilibrium wage rate
unemployment definition
situation when people are willing and able to work and are actively seeking employment but are unable to find work
reasons to try for low unemployment
- complements economic growth
- increased tax revenue
- reduces burden on government
- reduces brain drain
- improves quality of life
unemployment rate
- percentage of unemployed work force per time period
- (number of unemployed people/ labour force) x 100
- labour force = employed and unemployed people