Exam Revision Unit 2 Flashcards
Problems of measuring economic growth?
- Inaccurate data due to large volume
- Omissions related to non-marketed activities for which payment is not made (household tasks, DIY)
- Non-marketed government services need to be valued (health care etc) - zero priced goods
- Informal economy resulting in omissions
- Large black markets
Limitations of monetary policy
- Liquidity trap (due to lack of confidence)
- Difficult to control many objectives with one tool - conflict between macro objectives
- Affects exchange rate
- May affect some parts of the economy more than others
- Time lag - 18 months for rates to affect the economy
Benefits of economic growth
- Increased standards of living as growth of prod capacity permits increased consumption and investment
- Increased employment opportunities
- Increased trade competitiveness
- Increased business confidence - and hence increased investment
- Increased tax revenue -> higher public spending
- Expansion of productive capacity decreases risk of inflation caused by ‘overheating’
- Reduction of poverty
Costs of economic growth
- Imperfect indicator of living standards
- Fails to take into account externalities such as costs to the environment
- No indication if the distribution of rising income
- Consumer society gives rise to social problems
What are 2 sustainable economic growth strategies?
- Investment in technology that reduces negative environmental impacts (i.e “green” technology)
- Use of expanded tax revenue to redistribute income to those not benefitting from growth.
Difference between RPI AND CPI
- Different composition of prices (12% of RPI items are not included in CPI)
- Different weighting calculations - CPI includes all households
- RPI uses an arithmetic mean
- RPI is usually a higher value as it 1) includes housing costs 2) arithmetic
Limitations of measures of inflation
- Relies on data from the past (backward looking)
- Imperfect measures of the cost of living
- Difficult to define “average household”
- Price changes do not reflect quality of products
- May overestimate inflation as it doesn’t consider special offers
- Non unionised workers are not always getting increases in wages by the rate of inflation
Name 2 other impacts of monetary policy
- Low interest rates encourage greater demand for housing and hence property prices rise which increases the wealth effect and induces confidence
- Low interest rates will induce a low savings ratio meaning that more of the money owned by consumers will be spent.
When would expansionary monetary policy be used?
If there are concerns about slow growth and thus lower inflation then interest rates are cut meaning that borrowing becomes more attractive so consumption rises.
Employment is created as AD rises
When is contractionary monetary policy used?
If inflation is running above target then interest rates increase to reduce inflationary pressure.
Savings become more attractive
However output decreases
Paradox of the thrift
Despite low interest rates, during a recession people save more and consumption decreased due to job uncertainty and fear
Limits of the MPCs effectiveness
- Inflation could be low due to global pressures (globalisation and better technology)
- Time lag
- Some sections of the economy do not respond to higher interest rates
Limitations of fiscal policy
- Difficult to estimate how much AD will change due to automatic stabilisers and deliberate changes
- Time delay and inflexibility
- Government has imperfect information
- May have other un intended consequences
- Disincentive effect (rise in tax)
- Influenced by fiscal policy of other countries
Limitations of monetary policy 2
- Change in interest rates may have adverse effect - a rise in interest may reduce inflation but it will also reduce output and employment.
- Imperfect government information
- Will not effect everyone equally. A rise would benefit savers but harm borrowers
- Consumer confidence may be a more important factor
5.
Advantages of supply side policies
- Can help to reduce inflationary pressure due to productivity gains
- Improve sustainable growth, balance of payments and employment due to increased competitiveness
- Less likely to create conflict between macro objectives hence why it has been so popular for the last 25 years