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Current Issues in Macro Theory and Policy

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Questions

Question 1

According to the mainstream view of macroeconomics, what are the two primary sources of instability in the economy?

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Question 2

In the monetarist equation of exchange, MV = PQ, what does 'V' represent?

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Question 3

If an economy has a nominal GDP of $400 billion and the public desires to hold $100 billion of money, what is the velocity of money (V) according to the example provided in the text?

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Question 4

What does the real-business-cycle theory identify as the primary cause of macroeconomic instability?

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Question 5

Which concept describes a situation where people fail to reach a mutually beneficial equilibrium because they cannot coordinate their actions, leading to outcomes like a self-fulfilling recession?

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Question 6

What is the core belief of the new classical view regarding the economy's response to deviations from its full-employment output?

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Question 7

According to the rational expectations theory (RET), how do fully anticipated changes in the price level affect real output?

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Question 8

What is the primary point of disagreement between mainstream economists and new classical economists regarding the economy's self-correction mechanism?

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Question 9

What is an efficiency wage?

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Question 10

How does the insider-outsider theory explain downward wage inflexibility?

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Question 11

What is the monetary rule advocated by monetarist Milton Friedman?

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Question 12

What is the primary argument made by mainstream economists against a strict monetary rule?

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Question 13

According to the rational expectations theory (RET), why would an expansionary monetary policy be ineffective at increasing real output?

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Question 14

What is inflation targeting?

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Question 15

According to the Taylor rule, what is the Fed's assumed 'target rate of inflation' that it is willing to tolerate?

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Question 16

Based on the Taylor rule, if real GDP is 1 percent above potential GDP, by how much should the Fed raise the real Federal funds rate?

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Question 17

What distinguishes the mainstream view of macroeconomic instability from the monetarist view?

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Question 18

If nominal GDP rises from $400 billion to $440 billion after a $10 billion increase in the money supply, what does this imply about the velocity of money (V) in the monetarist model example?

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Question 19

According to the real-business-cycle theory, how does a decline in resource availability affect the economy?

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Question 20

What is the key implication of the efficiency wage theory for macroeconomic adjustment?

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Question 21

Which of the following is a reason a firm might pay an efficiency wage according to the text?

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Question 22

What is the mainstream economists' view on a constitutional amendment requiring the Federal government to balance its budget annually?

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Question 23

In the new classical view, how does an *unanticipated* increase in aggregate demand affect the economy in the short run?

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Question 24

Why do RET economists argue that discretionary monetary policy is ineffective?

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Question 25

Which summary point from the 'Summary of Alternative Views' table best describes the mainstream view on the cause of economic instability?

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Question 26

In the summary table of alternative macroeconomic views, how do monetarism and the mainstream view differ on the velocity of money?

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Question 27

What does the 'Last Word' section on the Taylor Rule suggest about its relationship with Friedman's simpler monetary rule?

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Question 28

Suppose a central bank is following the Taylor rule with a target inflation rate of 2 percent. If the economy is at its potential GDP but the actual inflation rate is 4 percent, how should the Fed adjust the real Federal funds rate?

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Question 29

Which school of thought would most likely attribute the Great Depression to a sharp reduction in the money supply?

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Question 30

According to the summary table of alternative views, what is the monetarist position on the effectiveness of fiscal policy?

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Question 31

What is the core argument of the RET perspective on the self-correcting nature of the economy?

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Question 32

In the context of macroeconomic theories, which term describes the view that people form their expectations based on present realities and only gradually change them as experience unfolds?

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Question 33

Which of these is NOT a source of downward wage inflexibility discussed in the chapter?

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Question 34

Monetarists argue that if the money supply (M) increases, what will be the ultimate effect in the economy?

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Question 35

What is the primary reason RET economists reject discretionary fiscal policy?

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Question 36

What policy action would a monetarist recommend if the economy is in a recession?

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Question 37

A key difference between the Taylor rule and the Friedman monetary rule is that the Taylor rule:

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Question 38

According to the mainstream economic view, one of the major successes of discretionary policy was:

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Question 39

Which of the following describes the monetarist interpretation of the economy?

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Question 40

What is a price-level surprise in the context of rational expectations theory?

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Question 41

What is the primary argument against the real-business-cycle theory's explanation of recessions?

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Question 42

If the Federal government has a balanced budget and then a recession occurs, what happens to the budget automatically under a system of built-in stabilizers?

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Question 43

Mainstream economists argue that, in response to a recession, discretionary policy should be used. In contrast, new classical economists argue that:

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Question 44

What is the 'crowding-out effect' that monetarists cite as a weakness of expansionary fiscal policy?

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Question 45

Which of the following would be an example of an adverse aggregate supply shock according to the mainstream view?

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Question 46

If a household saves more in anticipation of a future reversal of a temporary tax cut, this behavior is an example of what problem complicating fiscal policy?

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Question 47

According to the summary table (Table 36.1), how does the monetarist view explain the effect of a change in the money supply on the economy?

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Question 48

According to mainstream economists, what is the proper role for discretionary fiscal policy?

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Question 49

What is the mainstream critique of the real-business-cycle theory?

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Question 50

In the summary table of alternative views (Table 36.1), how is cost-push inflation viewed by monetarists and rational expectations theorists?

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