Economics & Monetary Policy Flashcards
This deck focuses on important terms and concepts relating to economics and monetary policy including the business cycle, balance of trade, and the role of the Federal Reserve.
Environment in which longer-term bonds have higher yields than short-term securities
Normal yield curve
Graphically depicts the yield relationship between long- and short-term bonds
Yield curve
A short-term economic contraction
Recession
The four phases of the economic cycle
Expansion, peak, contraction and trough
Longer term, severe economic contraction
Depression
A nation’s annual output of all goods and services
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Measures the general rate of increase or decrease in prices paid for certain standard goods
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
General increase in the level of prices
Inflation
The three types of economic indicators
Leading, lagging and coincident
Type of indicator that predicts a trend in the economy
Leading
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? The money supply
Leading
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? Employment levels
Coincident
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? Corporate profits
Lagging
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? Industrial production
Coincident
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? Average duration of unemployment
Lagging
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? New orders for consumer goods
Leading
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? Stock prices
Leading
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? Personal income
Coincident
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? GDP
Lagging
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? Manufacturing and trade sales
Coincident
Leading, lagging or coincident indicator? Ratio of inventories to sales
Lagging
Economist who theorized that aggregate demand controls employment and prices
John Maynard Keynes
The originator of monetarist theory
Milton Friedman
Three tools used by monetarist theory to regulate the economy
Reserve requirement, discount rate, federal open market operations
Two critical fiscal policy tools used to impact economic performance
Level of taxation and government spending
Economic theory that promotes strong government involvement in economic policy
Keynesian economics
Acts as agent of the US Treasury as the nation’s central bank
Federal Reserve Board
Regulates the U.S. money supply
Federal Reserve Board
Conducts the U.S. government’s open-market operations
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
Impact on the money supply of FOMC purchase of securities
Increases
Impact on interest rates of FOMC purchase of securities
Decreases
Interest rate charged between banks for loans of excess reserves
Federal funds rate
Minimum amount of customer deposits that commercial banks must deposit with the Federal Reserve
Reserve requirement
The Interest rate charged by the Fed to member banks for short-term loans
Discount rate
Economic policy that centers on federal spending, taxation and federal budgets
Fiscal policy
Impact of tight monetary policy on interest rates
Interest rates rise
Impact of a weak dollar on U.S. exports
Exports will rise
Impact of a weak dollar on U.S. imports
Imports will fall
Impact on balance of payments when U.S. exports exceed U.S. imports
Surplus in the balance of payments
Impact on balance of trade when foreign interest rates are higher than U.S. interest rates
increase in the balance of trade
Defensive, Cyclical or Growth Industry? Food
Defensive
Defensive, Cyclical or Growth Industry? Utilities
Defensive
Defensive, Cyclical or Growth Industry? Steel
Cyclical
Defensive, Cyclical or Growth Industry? Automobile
Cyclical
Defensive, Cyclical or Growth Industry? Technology
Growth
Basic balance sheet equation
Assets - Liabilities = Net Worth
Financial statement that summarizes revenues and expenses
Income statement
Characterized by falling stock markets, rising inventories, declining GDP
Contraction
Characterized by low unemployment , increased business activities
Expansion
assets
The component of a company’s balance sheet that reflects everything a company owns.
balance of trade
The difference between a country’s exports and imports. Debit items include money flowing out of a country, including imported goods, foreign aid, and domestic spending abroad. Credit items include exported goods and foreign spending in the domestic country.
balance sheet
One of a company’s financial statements, which provides a snapshot of the company’s assets and liabilities at a given point in time.