03.31.08
Play Ball!
Well, another baseball season is upon us. While the Orioles didn’t do so well today, perhaps you Baltimore fans will be consoled by the World Champion Boston Red Sox U.S. opening day Tuesday evening in Oakland. Look at it this way; at least the Yankees didn’t win!
Many people no longer see baseball as a significant sport, having been supplanted by football as our nation’s first choice. However, this article provides an example as to why baseball is an important sport and remains our national past-time.
03.28.08
Correction to Chapter 29 Reading
Hi everybody,
I just realized that Mankiw is using a term in chapter 29 that is not commonly used. Mankiw uses the term Net Foreign Investment to determine the nature of a countries foreign trade. The more acceptable term for this is Net Capital Outflow.
So, where ever you read Net Foreign Investment, you should replace the term with Net Capital Outflow. They mean the exact same thing – NFI is just a term that Mankiw was trying to get used as the common term; he was not successful.
03.25.08
Consumer Confidenvce at 5 Year Low
Here’s an article from CNN that reports Consumer Confidence is at a five year low. If you recall, we discussed consumer confidence earlier in the year when we studied Economic Indicators. How is it that consumer confidence drives economic behavior?
Enjoy The Break!
I hope you all have a great Spring Break!
Homework: Be sure to read chapter 29 over break as I will be quizzing you upon your return.
I plan on posting several articles during the week, so check out the blog…
03.18.08
Review For Exam
Chapter 31
- Why the AD curve slopes downward:
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- wealth effect
- interest-rate effect
- exchange-rate effect
- Factors that shift the AD curve:
- Δ Consumption
- Δ Investment
- Δ Government Spending
- Δ Net Exports
- Why the AS curve slopes upward:
-
- Misperceptions theory
- Sticky-wage theory
- Sticky-price theory
- Why the SRAS curve might shift
- Δ in Labor
- Δ in Technology
- Δ Natural Resources
- Δ Capital
- Δ in expected price level
Chapter 32
- Liquidity preference theory
- MPC & MPS
- Spending Multiplier 1/1-MPC
- The Crowding-out Effect
- Automatic Stabilizers
Chapter 33
- Phillips Curve
- Natural Rate Hypothesis
- Supply Shock
- Stagflation
- Sacrifice-Ratio
- Rational Expectations Theory
03.17.08
330 MPG – Now That’s More Like It!
Check out this new hybrid car that touts a 330 mpg standard. As the site suggests, “that’s 195 mpg more than President Bush’s recent energy bill.”
I think they still have a little way to go with regards to comfort and luxury…but I always wanted one of those Jetson flying cars:
03.16.08
Mankiw on the Trade Debate
The author of our text discusses the current trade debate amongst the leading presidential candidates in an article from today’s New York Times.
03.13.08
New Five Dollar Bill
Just a random post. The Treasury has unveiled the new Five dollar bill. Here’s the CNN article.
03.09.08
End to the Good Times (Such as They Were)
Here’s an interesting graphic from the New York Times showing a downturn in some key economic indicators. Not a pretty picture. What do you think has happened to the AD/AS curve over the past 6 months?
