DEREE COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

EC 1101 PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS II   FALL SEMESTER 2002

      M-W-F 13:00-13:50

Dr. Andreas Kontoleon      Office hours:  

Contact: a.kontoleon@ucl.ac.uk      Wednesdays 15:00-17:00

 

Homework for Chapter 8

      (Answer Sheet)

 

1. Suppose an economy’s real GDP is $30,000 in year 1 and $31,200 in year 2.  What is the growth rate of its real GDP?  Assume that population was 100 in year 1 and 102 in year 2.  What is the growth rate of GDP per capita? 

 

Growth rate of real GDP = 4 percent (= $31,200 - $30,000)/$30,000).  GDP per capita in year 1 = $300 (= $30,000/100).  GDP per capita in year 2 = $305.88 (= $31,200/102).  Growth rate of GDP per capita is 1.96 percent = ($305.88 - $300)/300).

 

2. Use the following data to calculate (a) the size of the labor force and (b) the official unemployment rate:  total population, 500; population under 16 years of age or institutionalized, 120; not in labor force, 150; unemployed, 23; part-time workers looking for full-time jobs, 10.

 
 
 

Remember: part workers are not considered as unemployed and hence they do enter the calculation of the official unemployment rate.

 

3. Assume that in a particular year the natural rate of unemployment is 5 percent and the actual rate of unemployment is 9 percent.  Use Okun’s law to determine the size of the GDP gap in percentage-point terms.  If the nominal GDP is $500 billion in that year, how much output is being foregone because of cyclical unemployment?

 

First find the amount of cyclical unemployment: 9-5=4 and then apply Okun’s Law:

 

Then

 

4. If the price index was 110 last year and is 121 this year, what is this year’s rate of inflation?  What is the “rule of 70”?  How long would it take for the price level to double if inflation persisted at (a) 2, (b) 5, and (c) 10 percent per year?

 

Dividing 70 by the annual percentage rate of increase of any variable (for instance, the rate of

inflation or population growth) will give the approximate number of years for doubling of the

variable.

 

 

5. Evaluate as accurately as you can how each of the following individuals would be affected by unanticipated inflation of 10 percent per year:

a. A pensioned railroad worker

b. A department-store clerk

c. A unionized automobile assembly-line worker

d. A heavily indebted farmer

e. A retired business executive whose current income comes entirely from interest on government bonds

6. The owner of an independent small-town department store

 

(a) Assuming the pensioned railway worker has no other income and that the pension is not indexed against inflation, the retired worker’s real income would decrease by approximately 10 percent of its former value.

(b) Assuming the clerk was unionized and the contract had over a year to run, the clerk’s real income would decrease in the same manner as the pensioner.  However, the clerk could expect to recoup at least part of the loss at contract renewal time.  In the more likely event of the clerk not being unionized, the clerk’s real income would decrease, possibly by as much as the pensioned railroad worker.

(c) Since the UAW worker is unionized, the loss in the first year would be the same as in (b) but we can be sure—barring a deep recession—that the loss will be made up at contract renewal time plus the usual real increase that may or may not be related to increased productivity.  If the contract had a cost-of-living allowance clause in it, the wage would automatically be raised at the end of the year to cover the loss in purchasing power.  Next year’s wage would rise by 10 percent.

(d) If the inflation is also in the price the farmer gets for his products, he could gain.  But more likely the price increases are mostly in what he buys, since farm machinery, fertilizer, etc., tend to be sold by less competitive sellers with more power to raise their prices.  The farmer faces a lot of competition and has to rely on the market price to go up—the farmer has little control over prices on an individual basis.  Moreover, if interest rates on the farmer’s new debts have gone up with the prices, the farmer could be even worse off.  The other side of the coin is that if no new borrowing is necessary, the inflation will reduce the real burden of the farmer’s debt, because the purchasing power declines on the fixed payments he contracted to make before inflation.

(e) The retired executive is in the same boat as the pensioned railroad worker, except that the executive’s income from the bonds or other interest bearing assets is probably greater than that of the worker from the pension.  The increase in inflation has most probably been accompanied by rising interest rates, with a proportional drop in the price of bonds.  Therefore, the retired executive would suffer a capital loss if he or she decided to cash in some of the bonds at this time and the fixed interest received on these existing bonds is worth less in terms of purchasing power. In other words, the executive, although wealthier than the retired worker, may be affected just as much or more from inflation.

(f) Assuming the store owner’s prices and revenues have been keeping pace with inflation, his or her real income will not change unless the costs have risen more than the product prices.

 

 

6. The table below shows the price index in the economy at the end of four different years.  (a) What is the rate of inflation in years 2, 3, and 4?  (b) Using the “rule of 70,” how many years would it take for the prices to double at each of these three inflation rates?

 

                       Rate of

           Year Price index inflation Years to double

           1 100 ____ ____

           2 108 ____ ____

           3 120 ____ ____

           4 132 ____ ____ 

           Year Price index inflation Years to double

           1 100

           2 108 8.0% Approx. 8.8

           3 120 11.1 Approx. 6.3

           4 132 10.0 Approx. 7 

     (a)  To get the rate of inflation, subtract last year’s index from this year’s index (108 – 100 for year 2); divide this result (8) by last year’s index (100) to get 0.08; multiply by 100 to change to percent (8%).

2. The rule of 70 says divide the rate of increase, 8, into 70 and this gives the approximate time for prices to double (approx. 8.8 years).  Note that in years 3 and 4, the index changes by 12 points each year, but the inflation rate will differ because the reference index base has changed from 108 to 120

 

7. The best measure of economic growth adjusted for the population of a nation is the increase in:

A) aggregate demand over time.

B) real GDP per worker over time.

C) real GDP per capita over time.

D) real GDP per dollar of capital stock over time.

 

Ans: C

 

8. If a nation's real GDP is growing by 3 percent per year, its real domestic output will double in approximately:

A) 21 years.

B) 23 years.

C) 29 years.

D) 42 years.

 

Ans: B

 

9. A recession is defined as:

A) a fall in the natural rate of unemployment.

B) a rise in the natural rate of unemployment.

C) a fall in real GDP that lasts six months or longer.

D) the minimum point in the business cycle before the recovery phase.

 

Ans: C

 

10. Official unemployment rate statistics may:

A) overstate the amount of unemployment by including part-time workers in the calculations.

B) understate the amount of unemployment by excluding part-time workers in the calculations.

C) overstate the amount of unemployment because of the presence of "discouraged" workers who are not actively seeking employment.

D) understate the amount of unemployment because of the presence of "discouraged" workers who are not actively seeking employment.

 

Ans: D

 

11. The amount by which potential GDP exceeds actual GDP is one measure of the:

A) natural rate of unemployment.

B) aggregate cost of unemployment.

C) difference between real and nominal GDP.

D) difference between real and nominal income.

 

Ans: B

 

12. Inflation caused by a rise in per unit production costs is referred to as:

A) cost-push inflation.

B) demand-pull inflation.

C) unanticipated inflation.

D) hyperinflation.

 

      Ans: A

 

13. If average nominal income was about $15,000 and the price level index was 118, then average real income would be about:

A) $11,146.

B) $12,712.

C) $13,385.

D) $14,249.

 

      Ans: B

 

14. With no inflation, a bank would be willing to lend a business firm $5 million at an annual interest rate of 6%.  But, if the rate of inflation was anticipated to be 4%, the bank would most likely charge the firm an annual interest rate of:

A) 2 percent.

B) 4 percent.

C) 6 percent.

D) 10 percent.

 

      Ans: D

 

15. In what circumstances would lenders most benefit?

A) when there is an unanticipated decrease in inflation

B) when there is an anticipated increase in inflation

C) when there is an unanticipated increase in inflation

D) when there is an anticipated decrease in inflation

 

      Ans: A