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Economics > Topic 3: Economic Issues > Flashcards

Topic 3: Economic Issues Flashcards

1
Q

what are the economic issues

A
  1. economic growth
  2. unemployment
  3. inflation
  4. distribution of income and wealth
  5. environmental sustainability
  6. external stability
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2
Q

what to do with each issue

A
  1. define
  2. measure
  3. causes
  4. trends
  5. impacts
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3
Q

what is economic growth

A

an increase in the value of goods and services that an economy produces over a peirod of time

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4
Q

how is eco. growth measured

A

changes in real gross domestic product (GDP) over a period of time typically a year (annual percentage change in GDP)

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5
Q

formula for real gdp

A

real gdp = nominal GDP x (100/CPI)

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6
Q

economic growth formula

A

economic growth (%) = (real gdp(current) - real gdp(previous)) / real gdp(previous) x 100

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7
Q

what are the three different time periods that can be used to measure eco. growth

A
  • quarterly rate of economic growth - ABS
  • year-on-year growth
  • annual economic growth rate
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8
Q

why is economic growth important

A

raises a countrys level of income and standard of living

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9
Q

what is aggregate supply

A

total productive capacity of an economy

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10
Q

aggregate supply formula

A

aggregate supply equation: Y = C + S + T

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11
Q

how to increase aggregate supply

A
  • discovery of new resources
  • population growth
  • workers acquring new skills
  • adoption of new technology
  • increased capital
  • efficiency measures
  • govenremnt policies
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12
Q

what are the constraints of economic growth in regards to aggregate supply

A
  • limited by the amount and quality of resources
  • as AD rises –> AS rises until it meets capacity point
  • skills shortage
  • infrastructure bottlenecks
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13
Q

what is aggregate demand

A

total demand for goods and services in an economy over a given period of time

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14
Q

aggregate demand equation

A

AD = C + I + G + (X - M)

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15
Q

what factors influence aggregate demand

A

consumption
investment
government spending
net exports

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16
Q

equalibrium of eco. growth

A

AD = AS

or

I + G + X = S + T + M
Injections = Leakages

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17
Q

what is gdp

A

the total monetary value of all final goods and services produced within a country during a period of time

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18
Q

what is the simple multiplier

A

the number of times the final increase in national income exceeds the intial increase in expenditure

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19
Q

simple multiplier formula

A

k = 1 / (1-MPC)

k = 1 / MPS

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20
Q

national income formula - simple multiplier

A

∆Y = ∆AD x k
∆Y = ∆G x k
∆Y = ∆X x k

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21
Q

positive effects of economic growth

A
  • higher living standards
  • higher employment levels
  • higher levels of business investment
  • improved budget outcomes
  • improved economic mobility
  • improved social mobility
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22
Q

negative effects of economic growth

A
  • inflation
  • rise in income inequality
  • external stability
  • environmental impacts
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23
Q

what polices are used to control aggregate demand

A

macoreconomic policies (fiscal and monetary)
demand-side, counter-cyclical policies

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24
Q

how do policies affect AD

A
  • downturn - government stimulates aggregate demand by increase G or reducing T
  • upturn - slow the rate of growth by increase T or reducing G
  • lower interest rates –> more borrowing –> rise in consumption and investment demand
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25
Q

what policies affect aggregate supply

A

microeconomic supply side policies

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26
Q

how do the policies affect AS

A
  • increase AS to keep up with AD –> improve efficiency and productivity
  • reduction in trade barriers
  • labout market reforms
  • funding investnment in infrastructure
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27
Q

what are the improvements in efficiency and technology in economic growth

A

three types:
- technical/productive efficiency –> maximum output at minimum cost
- allocative efficiency –> allocation of resources to reflect consumer preferences
- dynamic efficiency –> adopting cost-reducing innovations over time

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28
Q

what is consumption influenced by

A

consumer spending by households
* MPC and MPS
* interst rates
* confidence/expectations of the future
* distribution of income

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29
Q

what is investment influenced by

A

spending by forms on new capital goods to increase productive capacity
* interest rates
* government policies such as grants and taxation
* labour rates and productivity
* confidence/expectations of the future

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30
Q

what is government influenced by

A

spending by local, state and federa; government - expencditire by governemnt trading enterprises in capital
* stage of eco. cycle - government spending

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31
Q

what are net exports influenced by

A

X - expenditure by foreigner son domestically produced goods and services
M - domestic expenditure on foreign produced goods and services
* domestic and overseas incoe and value of currency

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32
Q

what is unemployment

A

labour resources are not utilised
* refers to a situation where individuals want to work but are unable to find a job

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33
Q

how is unemployment measured

A

unemployment rate - measures the proportion of the labour force that is not working but actively seeking work

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34
Q

what is the labour force

A

people over 15 are are employed in full or part time work and those who are considered unemployed

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35
Q

labour force equation

A

labour force = employed (part-time + full-time) + unemployed (actively seeking)

36
Q

what is the size of the labour force determined by

A
  • size of population
  • level of net migration
  • age distribution
  • participation rate of the working age population
37
Q

what is the participation rate

A

proportion of working age population that is in the labour force
LFPR - labour force participation rate

38
Q

participation rate formula

A

LFPR = (labour force / working age population) x 100

39
Q

what factors affect participation rate

A
  • level of economic activity
  • number of students staying at school
  • number of ppl retiring at older ages
40
Q

unemployment rate formula

A

unemployment rate = (total number of unemployed / labour force (employed + unemployed) x 100

41
Q

what are different types of unemployment

A
  • cyclical
  • structural
  • frictional
  • seasonal
  • underemployment
  • hidden
  • long-term
42
Q

what are causes of ue

A
  • level of economic growth
  • economy transitions
  • technological advancements
  • increases in wage rates
  • inflexibility in the labour market
43
Q

what is nairu

A

refers to the level of unemployment at which there is no cyclical unemployment (when the economy is at full employment)
level that could be acheived using maco policy without inflation

44
Q

what is the srpc

A

inverse relationship between unemployment and inflation

45
Q

what is the lprc

A

natural rate of unemployment (NAIRU)
an economy will always have some level of seasonal, frictional, structural ue where there is no trade-off between inflation and ue

46
Q

how to reude srpc to lrpc

A

macroeconomic expansionary fiscal policies are used to decrease cyclical unemployment

47
Q

how to reduce nairu

A

use of supply-side policies by the government
* labour market reforms
* improvements in productivity
* education and retraining programs

48
Q

main groups affected by unemployment

A
  • age
  • skill level
  • industry/sector
  • ethnicity
  • region
49
Q

what are economic costs of unemployment

A
  • opportunity cost
  • lower living standards
  • higher government defiicits
  • loss of skills, long-term unemployed people lose valuable skills
  • higher income inequality
50
Q

what are social costs of unemployment

A
  • increasing rates of crime and family breakdowns
  • health issues
  • drug issues
  • increase in ue
51
Q

how policies reduce cyclical

A

expansionary macroeconomic policy which stimualtes ad

52
Q

how policies reduce structural

A

microeconomic policy improve efficiency and productivity –> increase eco. growth and job creation
–> educational and training programs

53
Q

how policies reduce frictional ue

A

microeconomic policy to help match job seekers to vacancies

54
Q

what is inflation

A

a sustained increase in general prices in an economy over a period of time

55
Q

what is the goal of inflation

A

to acheive price stability with inflation at 2-3%

56
Q

what is the importance of price stability

A
  • decline in purchasing power of money
  • knowing the real value (accounting for inflation) –> decline in living standards
  • misallocation of resources
  • higher inflationary expectations
57
Q

how to measure inflation

A

using consumer price index (CPI) - measures the change in prices of goods and servives

58
Q

inflation rate formula

A

inflation rate = ((current inflation - previous inflation) / previous inflation) x 100

59
Q

what is headline inflation

A

this is the official rate and may be mislaeding cause:
* price volaitlity - climatic conditions, prcie wars, industrial disputes
* seasonality products
* governemnt policy

60
Q

what is underlying inflation

A

the core inflaiton that removes he effects of the one-offs and volatiltiy - less varaivle
* better indicator of ongoing trends

61
Q

what are the measures of underlying inflation

A
  1. trimmed mean
  2. weighted median
  3. cpi excluding volatile items
62
Q

what are the causes of inflation

A
  1. demand-pull inflation
  2. cost-push inflation
  3. imported inflaiton
  4. inflationary expectations
63
Q

what is demand pull inflation

A
  • inflation occruing due to higher AD
  • AD > AS
  • increases in AD due to AS
    –> consumers bid up prices for limited g/s
    –> rise in prices and expansion in supply = inflation
64
Q

what is cost-push inflation

A
  • occurs due to lower AS
  • increases in production costs are passed on to consumers
    –> lower AS –> firms produce less for given price level
    –> pass onthe increase in cost of the consumers in the form of higher prices
65
Q

what are the main causes of cost-push inflation

A
  • wage growth > productivity growth
  • raw materials –> price increase
  • government policy –> MP tightening, taxes, regulation
66
Q

what is imported inflation

A
  • transferred thrugh international transactions
    –> rising import prices
    –> depreciation of AUD
  • causes variability in headline inflation
67
Q

what is inflationary expectations

A
  • people’s perceptions of the future inflation based on past and current rates of inflation
  • if inflation expected to rise –> workers seek higher wages
  • if inflation expected to rise –> consumers buy now

wage price inflation spiral - demand pull –> cost-push –> demand pull –> cost-push, etc.

68
Q

how to reduce inflationary expectations

A
  • monetary policy successful at reducing inflationary pressures
  • consumers aware of cash rate changes if inflation increases –> minimises conumer and firms reacting prematurely
69
Q

examples of inflation

A
  • depreciation of the australian dollar
  • higher fruit and vegetable prices/natural disasters
  • supply constraints and strong demand
  • higher protection (tariffs/quotas)
  • higher government taxes and charges
  • higher oil prices
  • higher wages and non-wage benefits
  • wage demands based on cpi
70
Q

positive effects of inflation

A
  • rising prices of assets
  • distrotions in resource allocation
  • future prices encourage spending
  • ensures accountability
71
Q

negative effects of inflation

A
  • erodes real incomes
  • may increase unemployment
  • increase incme inequality
  • reduced international competitiveness
  • distorts investment and savings decisions
  • influences allocation of resources
  • the government budget outcomes are affected by inflation
72
Q

macro policies to reduce inflation

A
  • loosening policy - increase inflaiton
  • tightening policy - curbed demand pull inflation
73
Q

micro policies to reduce inflation

A
  • reduced protection
  • deregulation of the labour market
  • deregulation of financial market
74
Q

what is income

A

flowe of returns to owners of factors of production over a period of time
e.g. wages, profits + transfer payments (pensions)

75
Q

what is wealth

A

net value of assets (real and financial) held at a point in time (land holdings, stocks)

76
Q

what is income inequality

A

degree to wich incomes in unevenly distributed amongst people of an economy
growing income inequality - more income to higher income percentiles

77
Q

what are the sources of wealth

A

household wealth (net worth) - measures private sector wealth - superannuation, property

78
Q

what is the measure of income inquality

A

gini coefficienct reflected in the lorenz curve

79
Q

what is the lorenz curve

A

a curve that measures the inequality
there is a line of perfect equalit and the size of the area between the line of equality and lorenz curve is the gini coefficient - measure of inequality

80
Q

what is the gini coefficient

A

it ranges for 0-1 and the close it is the 0, the more equal income is
Gini coefficient = A / (A + B)

81
Q

what is the trend of income and wealth inequality

A

assymetric (highly unequal)

82
Q

what are the dimensions of inequality

A

age and education
ethinic background
family structure
gender and occupation
geographical

83
Q

what are the economic benefits of inequality

A
  • incentive for increased level of education and skills
  • more mobile labour forcce
  • entrepreneurs are encouraged to take risks and innovate
84
Q

what are economic costs of inequality

A
  • constraints growth
  • strain on government budget due to welfare support
  • conspicuous consumption for wealth and high income earners
85
Q

what are social benefits of inequality

A

limited social benefits
* only for higher income earners as they gain higher material living standards
* societal value of hard work

86
Q

what are social costs of inequality

A
  • social class division
  • relative poverty of minor grups
  • increase levels pf crime, suicide, disease and decreases in life expectancy
87
Q

what are the policies that reduce inequality

A
  1. progressive taxation - proportion and rate of tax on income increases as total income increases
  2. transfer payments - welfare payments such as pensions, allowances and tax benefits
  3. public spending - other assistance to low income households through spending such as public housing, education and healthcare

Economics (4 decks)

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