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Flashcards in Macro 1 Deck (41)
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1
Q

What are the main objectives of government economic policy?

A
  1. Economic growth.
  2. Price stability.
  3. Minimising unemployment.
  4. A stable balance of payments on current account.
2
Q

What data is commonly used to measure the performance of an economy/

A

> real GDP, real GDP per capita, CPI, RPI, measures of unemployment, productivity and the balance of payments on current account.

3
Q

Indicator and objective

A
  1. Growth - strong, sustained, sustainable.
  2. Unemployment - low and full employment.
  3. Inflation - low and stable, 2% (+/-1%).
  4. Trade - balanced.
  5. Distribution of income - ‘fair’ (normative as depends on view).
4
Q

Economic growth - definition

A

> An increase in an economy’s productive potential. Usually measured as the rate of change of the GDP, or the GDP per capita.

5
Q

GDP - definition

A

> All the goods and services produced by a country (national output).
Calculate the value (£ billions) of all the goods and services produced in one year.

6
Q

Nominal GDP - definition

A

> GDP which hasn’t been adjusted for inflation.

>Misleading as suggests GDP is higher than it is.

7
Q

Real GDP - definition

A

> GDP which has been adjusted for inflation.

8
Q

GNI

A

> Gross National Income.

>GDP plus net income from abroad.

9
Q

GNP

A

> Gross National Product.

>Total output of the citizens of a country.

10
Q

What can GNI and GNP be used for?

A

> Comparing standards of living.

11
Q

GDP limitations

A
>Hidden economy.
>Public spending is different for different governments.
>Extent of income inequality.
>Working hours and conditions.
>Different spending needs, e.g. heating.
12
Q

PPP

A

> More accurate and easier comparison.

13
Q

Inflation - definitions

A
  1. The sustained rise in the average price of goods and services over a period of time.
  2. Or it can be seen as a fall in the value of money.
14
Q

Deflation

A

> Fall in the average price.

15
Q

Disinflation

A

> Slowing down of the rate of inflation.

16
Q

Hyperinflation

A

> Prices rise extremely quickly and money rapidly loses its value.

17
Q

How is inflation measured?

A

> Retail Price Index.

>Consumer Price Index.

18
Q

Retail Price Index

A

> Living Costs and Food Survey then it measures the changes in price of around 700 of the most commonly used goods and services.
Basket of goods reflects what households may spend money on.

19
Q

Consumer Price Index

A

> Slightly different to RPI as it excludes, mortgage interests and council tax.
Slightly different formula.
Larger sample of the population is used.
CPI is the official measure of inflation in UK and is used for international comparisons.

20
Q

CPI vs RPI

A

> CPI tends to be a little lower except when interest rates are really low.

21
Q

Uses of RPI and CPI

A

> Help determine wages and state benefits and measures changes in UK’s international competitiveness.
If the CPI is higher in UK than others then UK price is less competitive.

22
Q

Unemployment

A

> The level of unemployment is the number of people who are looking for a job but cannot find one.
The rate of unemployment is the number of people out of work (but looking for a job) as a percentage of the labour force.

23
Q

When is unemployment rate used?

A

> Different population sizes.

24
Q

How is unemployment measured

A
  1. Labour Force Survey.

2. Claimant Account.

25
Q

Claimant Account

A

> Number of people claiming JSA.

>Monthly, easy to obtain, can be manipulated, excludes thos not eligible for JSA but that are seeking work.

26
Q

Labour Force Survey

A

> More accurate.
Internationally comparitable.
Run by ILO (International Labour Organisation).
Less up to date.
Expensive.
May be unrepresentative of whole population as it takes a sample.

27
Q

Types of unemployment

A
  1. Seasonal
  2. Structural
  3. Frictional
  4. Cyclical
28
Q

Cyclical unemployment

A

> When economy is in recession.

>Labour is derived from demand, demand falls, less labour is needed.

29
Q

Seasonal unemployment

A

> Demand for certain industries isn’t the same all year round.
Regular.
Predictable.

30
Q

Structural unemployment

A

> Difference in jobs available and the skill levels of the unemployed.
Decline in industry.
Negative Multiplier Effect.

31
Q

Frictional unemployment

A

> Unemployment experienced by workers between leaving one job and starting another.
Time lag.

32
Q

What does full employment do?

A

> Maximises production.
Raises standards of living/
Used to measure health of an economy.

33
Q

Underemployment

A

> Has a job, but it doesn’t utilise a person’s skills, experience or availability to best effort.

34
Q

Balanced trade/ balance of payments

A

> A record of a country’s international transactions, i.e. flows of money in and out of a country.

35
Q

Current account

A

> Current account on the balance of payments = a part of the record of a country’s international flows of money.
It consists of trade in goods, trade in services, international flows of income (salaries, interest, profit and dividends), and transfers.

36
Q

What does UK’s balance of payments show?

A
  1. Large deficit on balance of visible trade - UK imports more goods than it exports.
  2. Small surplus on balance of invisible trade - UK exports slightly more services than it imports.
  3. A surplus on flows of investment income.
  4. A deficit in transfers - e.g. UK makes foreign aid payments.

> £ - 25, 200 million (2019).

37
Q

Productivity

A

> The average output produced per unit of a factor of production, e.g. labour productivity would be the average output per worker or hour-worked.
The higher the productivity, the higher economic growth.

38
Q

What is productivity affected by?

A

The amount and sophistication of capital equipment used by workers.

39
Q

What does productivity measure?

A

> How efficiently a company or an economy is producing its output.

40
Q

Index Numbers calculation

A

> Value for current period/value for base period x100.

41
Q

Index Numbers

A

> Quick and easy data comparisons.
Base year always has an index value of 100.
Tell us rate of increase but not able to compare actual figures.
Compare rate of change with different sets of data - e.g. £ and $,

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