BEC 5 Changes in economic and business cycles Flashcards
(109 cards)
Gross Domestic Product (GPD)
total market value of all final goods and serves produced within the borders of a nation in a period of time
Nominal GDP
- measured in “today’s” prices
- measures the value of all final goods and services in prices prevailing at the time of production (current prices)
Real GDP
- measured in “base year” prices
- measures the value of all final goods and services in constant prices.
- It is adjusted to account for changes in the price level.
- Real GDP is the most commonly used measure of economic activity and national output,
Price Index
GDP Deflator - calculates real GDP
It is a price index for all goods and services included in GDP.
Real GDP = (Nominal GDP / GDL deflator ) x 100
Real GDP per Capita and Economic Growth
Real per capital GDP = real GDP / population
Economic growth
the increase in real GDP per capita over time
Business Cycles
- Expansionary phase - rising economic activity and growth
- Peak - high point of economic activity
- Contractionary phase - falling economic activity and growth
- Trough - low point, the lowest level
- Recovery phase - increase
Recession
- below long term average growth
- two consecutive quarters of falling national output
- negative real economic growth
Depression
- a very severe recession
- a relatively long period of stagnation
Economic indicators
- Leading indicators
- Lagging indicators
- Coincident indicators
Leading indicators
Predicting before the fact actually happens
- average new unemployment claims
- building permits for residences
- average length of the workweek
- money supply
- prices of selected stocks
- orders for goods
- prices changes of materials
- index of customer expectations
Lagging indicators
Predicting after the fact happened
- prime rate charged by banks
- average duration of unemployment
- bank loans outstanding
Coincident indicators
Occur at the same time as the economic activity
- industrial production
- manufacturing and trade sales
Reasons for fluctuations
business cycles result from shifts in aggregate demand and/or aggregate supply
Aggregate Demand (AD) Curve
the maximum quantity of all goods and services that households, firms and the government are willing and able to purchase at any given price level
Aggregate Supply (AS) Curve
the maximum quantity of all goods and services producers are willing and able to produce at any given price level
1. Short run aggregate supply curve - upward sloping, Price UP/ Production UP
2. Long run aggregate supply curve - vertical line, potential level of output in the economy, independent of price level, resources available to produce
3. Potential level of output - the level of real GDP that the economy would produce if its resources were fully employed
Real GDP below the potential level of output - recession
Above - expansion
Aggregate demand, aggregate supply and economic fluctuations
business cycles are results of shifts in aggregate demand and short run aggregate supply
Reduction in demand
IF reduced demand, real GDP will decline, leading to a contraction in economic activity and possibly a recession.
Increase in demand
if increased demand, GDP will rise, employment, reduction in excess capacity leading them to increase the size of their workforce
Factors that shift aggregate demand
- Changes in wealth
a. Increase - aggregate demand shifts to the right
b. Decrease - ag. demand left - Changes in Real Interest Rates
a. Increase - reduction in demand
b. Decrease - increase - Changes in expectations about the future economic outlook
a. Confident - demand up
b. Uncertain - demand down - Changes in Exchange rates
a. Appreciated - expensive foreign demand, aggregate demand down
b. Depreciated - cheap for foreigners, demand up - Changes in Government spending
a. Increase - demand up
b. Decrease - down - Changes in Consumer Taxes
a. Increase - demand down (shifts to left)
b. Decrease - up
Multiplier effect
an increase in consumer, firm or government speeding produces a multiplied increase int he level of economic activity.
The multiplier effect results from the marginal propensity to consume (MPC)
Multiplier = 1 / (1-MPC)
Change in real GDP = Multiplier = Change in spending
Factors that Shift short run aggregate supply
- Changes in input prices
a. increase in input prices - shift left
b. decrease in input prices - shift to right - Supply shocks
a. plentiful - right
b. curtailed - left
Economic measures
- Real gross domestic product
- Unemployment rate
- Inflation rate
- Interest rate
The National Income and Product Accounting (NIPA
developed by the US Department of Commerce in order to monitor the health and performance of the US economy.