theme 2 : macroeconomics Flashcards
what are the governments four macroeconomic objectives?
- economic growth
- unemployment
- inflation
- current account on the balance of payments
what is an open economy?
where there is foreign trade
what is a closed economy?
where there is no foreign trade
who owns the wealth of the nation?
households own the wealth. they own land, labour and capital.
what is frictional unemployment?
workers who are unemployed because they are between jobs
what is voluntary unemployment?
when workers leave their employment out of choice (eg. no longer financially satisfying)
what is seasonal unemployment?
workers who are unemployed due to the seasons changing. eg. tourism industries
what is cyclical unemployment?
when workers are unemployed due to the economic cycle (during a recession or downturn)
what is the inflation rate target?
2%
why are some economies seen as “strong”?
their current account is persistently in surplus
why are some economies seen as “weak”?
their current account is in persistent deficits
why has the importance of gvt budget deficits grown as an economic objective?
due to the 2008 financial crisis
what do right wing economists broadly tend to believe?
that inequality is a good thing as it increases the incentive to work and take economic risks. therefore they are against policies that reduce inequalities, such as increase on taxes on the wealthy.
what do left wing economists broadly tend to believe?
that everyone in society should have access to a certain standard of living and that the free market leads to high inequality. they believe the gvt should intervene to reduce this. they usually want to provide services such as healthcare and education for free.
what is national income?
the level of total output in an economy
what does the circular flow model show?
it presents how money, goods and services move between sectors in an economic system. the flows of income are used to measure a country’s national income or GDP
what are examples of withdrawals / leakages?
- savings
- taxes
- imports
what are examples of injections?
- investment
- government spending
- exports
what benefits do firms provide households with?
- wages
- rent
- dividends
what benefits do households provide firms with?
- consumer spending
what do firms provide to households?
- goods
- services
what do households provide to firms?
- capital
- land
- labour
- enterprise
what does O E Y stand for?
O - national output
E - national expenditure
Y - national income
what is national output (O)?
the value of flow of goods and services from firms to households
what is national expenditure (E)?
the value of spending by households on goods and services
what is national income (Y)?
the value of income paid by firms to households in return for land, labour and capital. same as real gdp
what is the aggregate demand equation?
AD = C + I + G + (X-M)
aggregate demand = consumer expenditure + investment expenditure + gvt expenditure + (exports - imports)
what is wealth?
the value of assets owned by a household. eg. property, shares and savings
what happens if injections are larger than withdrawals?
national income will rise
what happens if withdrawals are larger than injections?
national income will fall
what does aggregate mean?
total
what are the six key indicators of the economy’s performance?
- unemployment numbers
- rate of inflation
- rate of economic growth
- government budget
- degree of inequality
- quality of environment
what is the equation for index number?
index number = (raw number in period / raw number base period) x 100
what are index numbers?
they are used to observe how the economy is functioning and allow for easier comparisons between two countries.
what is a real value?
the value before inflation is taken into account. it effectively removes or excludes inflation from the value.
what is a nominal value?
measurements made using price that are current at the time a transaction takes place. current prices that take inflation into account.
nominal values reflect the effect of inflation.
what is GDP?
gross domestic product. it is the total output of an economy over a given period.
what is GNI?
gross national income. GDP + / - net income from abroad. it adds what a country earns from abroad and subtracts the amount that foreigners send home.
what measure is better than GNI? why?
GNI per capita. it allows for comparisons between countries with different population sizes.
what is GPI? why is better than GNI?
genuine progress indicator. it takes into account the environment.
what is the equation of real GDP?
quantity of product x price of product in base year
what is the equation for GDP deflator?
(nominal GDP / real GDP) x 100
what is nominal GDP?
the value of goods and services using current prices. doesn’t take inflation into account.
what is real GDP?
the value of goods and services at constant prices. does adjust for inflation.
what are the issues in measuring GDP?
- exclusions of real transactions (gifts)
- the value of leisure (walking outside)
- the underground economy (drugs, prostitution)
- zero price goods are excluded (free software upgrades on old PCs)
- difficult to measure innovation (financial services, homes are multipurpose airbnb)
- accounting for inflation
what is the equation for unemployment rate?
(number of unemployed / labour force) x 100
who makes up the labour force?
people who are of working age, are able and willing to work. can be both employed and unemployed.
what is the difference between GDP deflator and CPI?
GDP deflator only includes domestic goods and not anything that is imported. CPI includes anything bought by consumers including foreign goods. GDP deflator is a measure of all the prices of all goods and services while CPI is a measure of only goods bought by the consumer.
what is inflation?
a sustained increase in the general price level for goods and services
how can we measure inflation?
use a typical basket of commodities.
we measure the basket during a base year, and then in subsequent years
what is deflation?
a persistent fall in the general price level of goods and services shown by a negative rate of inflation
what is disinflation?
a reduction in the rate of inflation (3% to 2%)
what are the three key labour categories?
- employed
- unemployed (looking for work)
- economically inactive (not looking for work)
who is included in the economically inactive group?
students, retired, sick people or people looking after family members, discouraged workers (people who have failed to find work and given up looking)
are economically inactive people considered to be part of the workforce?
no. they are not active.
what does large numbers of unemployment mean?
that the country is not fully utilising all available labour resources and therefore sacrificing potential output that could be produced
how can we measure unemployment?
- claimant count
- ILO unemployment rate
what is the claimant count?
the number of people registered as unemployed and claiming JSA
what is ILO (international labour organisation) unemployment rate?
a measure based on the labour force survey. it identifies the number of people available and seeking work, but without a job.
why is the claimant count and ILO not accurate?
claimant count :
- only captures those who claim JSA, not who are eligible
- those who are unemployed for other reasons but cant claim JSA
ILO :
- based on sample and then extrapolated to fit entire population
- not fully accurate and representative
why is hard to measure unemployment in developing countries?
- no social security system which provides no incentive to register as unemployed
what is underemployment?
- when people are overqualified for a role (eg. a lawyer being a taxi driver)
- when people are working less hours than they would like to (eg. part time instead of full time)
what is the unemployment rate equation?
(number of unemployed / labour force) x 100
what’s the difference between unemployment and economic inactivity?
unemployment is when people are not in work, but they are actively looking for a job. they are available to work. inactivity is when people aren’t looking nor do they have / want a job.
what is the workforce?
people who are economically active? - either in employment or unemployed
what is the balance of payments account?
a record of all financial dealings over a period of time between economic agents of one country and all other countries