Midterm Flashcards
Define Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The sum of the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time.
What is double counting (GDP)
Counting intermediate goods and services in addition to the price of the end product.
Gives a total that is too big.
Define Gross National Product (GNP)
The sum of the market value of all final goods and services produced and capital owned by the permanent residents of a country in a given period of time, no matter where in the world production occurs.
Consumption (GDP)
Spending on goods and services by private individuals and households. Has to be new.
Investment (GDP)
Spending by businesses, including newly bought houses by household. Productive inputs, capital goods, inventories.
Doesn’t include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other products bought and sold in the financial markets.
Government Purchases (GDP)
Goods and services bought by all levels of government.
Net Exports (GDP)
Domestic spending on imports should be subtracted, while international spending on exports should be added.
Exports > Imports = Positive
Exports < Imports = Negative
Calculate GDP with The Income Approach
GDP = Wages + Interest + Rental Income + Profits
When goods are exported, that is expenditure by other countries and income for Canada.
When goods are imported, that is expenditure in Canada and income for other countries.
Calculate GDP with The Value Added Approach
Looks at all transactions.
The difference between the sale value of the product and the value of the inputs that went into it.
Any intermediary involved in the sale of used goods adds value by sourcing those goods and making them available for sale in a convenient way.
Real GDP
Calculated based on goods and services valued at constant prices (using a base year).
Holding prices constant will allow us to see how much quantities rise or fall.
Calculate Real GDP
Real GDP = (quantity of a good produced in that year) (it’s price in the base year)
Nominal GDP
Calculated based on goods and services valued at current (at the time of production) prices.
Calculate Nominal GDP
Nominal GDP = (quantity of a good produced in that year) (it’s price in that year)
What is GDP Deflator
Used to measure the overall change in prices in an economy, using the ratio between real and nominal GDP. Uses actual quantities that are produced in the economy each year, rather than using a fixed basket.
In the base year, GDP Deflator always = 100.
Nominal > Real, prices have risen, deflator > 100.
Nominal < Real, prices have fallen, deflator < 100.
Inflation
How fast the overall level of prices is changing from year to year.
GDP Per Capita
How much is produced per person in a country. Doesn’t tell you how income is distributed or how much you can buy with a given an=mount of money in a country.
GDP / Population Size.
GDP Growth Rates (sign meaning -, +)
Negative Growth Rate = Economy Shrinking.
Positive Growth Rate = Economy Growing.
Shrinking Economies
People are producing less than the year before.
Define Recession
A period of significant decline in economic activity.
GDP goes down, Unemployment goes up, Bankruptcies go up.
Define Depression
Severe or extended recession.
Limitations of GDP
Doesn’t account for home production, the underground economy, and environmental externalities.
Home Production
Goods and services that are both produced and consumed within one household.
The Underground Economy (black and grey market)
Black market: Sales of illegal goods and services. Is not reported and therefore not counted as part of GDP.
Grey market: Sits somewhere between the black market and the documented economy. Not illegal but also not reported and therefore no counted as a part of GDP.
Environmental Externalities (green GDP)
Green GDP: Subtracts the environmental costs of production from the positive outputs normally counted in GDP.
GDP verses Well Being
GDP per capita does not perfectly correlate with people’s well being.
The Market Basket
A list of specific goods and services, in fixed quantities that roughly correspond to a typical consumer’s spending.
Keeps goods and quantities constant to isolate for price change.
Define Consumer Price Index
Tracks changes in the cost of a basket of goods and services purchased by a typical Canadian household (relative to the cost in a given base year)
Define Price Index
Measures how much the cost of a market basket has risen or fallen relative to the cost in a base time, period, or location.
CPI Sign Meanings (base year, >,
CPI of base year = 100.
Basket of desired year > Basket of base year = CPI greater than 100.
Basket of desired year < Basket of base year = CPI less than 100.
Goods Included In The Typical Market Basket
Based on an average of goods and services purchased by urban consumers in different life stages and situations.
Define Substitution (CPI)
People switch between similar goods and services when relative prices shift.
Define Innovation (CPI)
As new goods and services become available, people change what they consume.
Problems With A Fixed Basket
What people buy in a given year changes with tastes and prices. If the market basket doesn’t reflect the fact that people buy less of a particular product as it gets more expensive, it will overstate actual changes in the cost of living.
What Does Hedonic Quality Adjustment Try To Do
Estimate what the price of an item would be without the improved features.
True Cost Of Living verses Market Basket Price
If a higher price represents higher quality, the true cost of living may not have actually increased.
Define All Items Inflation
Changes in prices for the entire market basket of the average urban consumer.
Define Core Inflation
Price changes using eight of CPI’s most volatile components (mostly related to energy and food) excluded.
Why Is Core Inflation Used
Energy and food prices fluctuate a lot. They might be very high or low at the time CPI is calculated. Including them might overstate or understate the real change in overall prices.
Producer Price Index
Measures the prices of goods and services purchased by firms. Considered a good predictor of future consumer prices
Define Nominal
Something that has not been adjusted for inflation.
Define Indexing (payments that are indexed to inflation) (COLAs)
Automatically increasing payments in proportion to the cost of living.
What Is Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
Purchasing power should theoretically be the same everywhere, when stated in a common currency
Why Is PPP Normally Violated
Transaction costs, Non-tradeables, Trade restrictions.
Transaction Costs (PPP)
Transportation costs, the time and money needed to find sellers in different countries.
If the price difference is small and the costs of making transactions in another country are high, the trade off involved may not be worth it.
Non-tradeables (PPP)
Housing, food, some services (i.e. haircuts), etc.
Trade Restrictions (PPP)
Tariffs and trade restriction increase cost or difficulty of international trade. Discourages people from fully taking advantage of lower prices in other countries.
Purchasing Power Indexes (PPI) (steps)
- Find market basket for goods and services that can be compared across countries
- Measure basket price; calculate the overall cost of purchasing it in each country
- Build an index showing how much the basket costs in each country relative to some base (Comparative price index, CPI)
CPI = [(Exchange rate predicted by PPP - Official exchange rate) / (Official exchange rate)] * 100%
Comparative Price Index (CPI) (-,+)
Negative CPI: Price levels in that country are lower than we’d expect if PPP held true. That country has a higher real purchasing power.
Positive CPI: Price levels in that country are higher than we’d expect if PPP held true. That country has a lower real purchasing power.
What is Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) Adjustment
Recalculating economic statistics to account for differences in price levels across countries. Gives us a more realistic sense of differences in living standards.
How Does The National Household Survey (NHS) Dictionary Define Unemployment
People who are on temporary lay off and are expected to return to their job. People with definite arrangement to start a new job in four weeks or less.
What Counts As Unemployed
Civilian, non-institutionalized population, age 15 +.
What Doesn’t Count As Unemployed
Adults in the armed forces, inmates in an institution, full time students, stay at home parents, people unable to work due to a disability, people who have inherited wealth and choose not to work.
Limitations To The Unemployment Rate
Doesn’t include workers who gave up hope of finding a job. Discouraged workers and the underemployed.
Define Discouraged Workers
People who looked for work in the previous year but have given up looking because of the condition of the labour market.
Define Underemployed
Workers who are in jobs that are not suited to their skill level or workers with part time jobs but would like to work full time.
Define Recession (Unemployment)
Increasing percentage of people who were unemployed for a long stretch of time. Short stints of joblessness between positions and long term inability to find work.
Define Unemployment
The gap between the number of people who want work and the number of jobs offered at the prevailing wage.
Natural Rate Of Unemployment (equilibrium rate of unemployment)
All economies experience some level of unemployment, regardless of how well or badly the economy is doing in the short term.
Frictional unemployment, structural unemployment, and real wage/classical unemployment.