Thank you!

The Australian economy is "weak",with households weighed down by slow wages growth and higher taxes,the OECD has declared in a report that backs lower interest rates,calls for more government spending and paves the way for unconventional monetary policies.In its six-monthly review of the global economy,the Paris-based think tank has sharply downgraded its expectations for Australia while raising serious concerns about the level of debt being carried by households.

The Morrison government this week announced $3.8 billion of infrastructure projects would be pulled forward or given additional funding over the next four years. The decision followed calls from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA),which has sliced official interest rates to a record low 0.75 per cent,for a lift in public spending plus productivity-enhancing structural reforms.

But economists have warned the new spending will equate to less than 0.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP),arguing much more needs to be done to get the economy growing fast enough to bring down the national unemployment rate.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),which noted the global economy was now growing at its slowest rate since the global financial crisis,said it expected Australian GDP to expand by 2.3 per cent this year and next,well short of the federalgovernment's forecast.

It also expects private consumption,which accounts for about 60 per cent of total economic activity,to barely grow faster than inflation over the next two years.In March,the OECD was expecting unemployment to start edging down. It has now lifted its forecasts,tipping unemployment to average 5.3 per cent in 2020.Economic activity has been weak," the OECD said about Australia. "Private consumption spending has been sluggish,weighed down by slow wage growth and an increase in taxes paid by households."

While the government has argued its recent tax cuts will help households offset slow wages growth,the OECD and other organisations such as the RBA have noted overall tax levels are increasing as the budget returns to surplus.

Research this week from National Australia Bank found Australian household debt was now at a record high of 202 per cent of annual income.The OECD said high household indebtedness could "exacerbate" any economic shock that hit Australia.

It said with the RBA likely to cut interest rates further,which in turn could feed into a lift in house prices,lending standards might have to be tightened to protect households.

"High household indebtedness means that the authorities should stand ready to tighten macro- prudential policy settings if lower interest rates fuel house price inflation through a sharp pick- up in credit," the OECD found.While expecting further rate cuts,the organisation said the Morrison government should "loosen fiscal policy" to help get the economy growing faster.

"Fiscal policy is expected to provide little support to economic growth,in accordance with the federal government's commitment to future budget surpluses," it said. "A more expansionary fiscal stance may be warranted given that the economy is growing well below its potential and the relatively low public debt burden.

"At the same time,growth-enhancing tax reforms should be prioritised. These include shifting the tax mix away from direct taxes and inefficient taxes like real estate stamp duty to the GST and land taxation."Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the nation's economic fundamentals remained sound,with the country now in its 29th consecutive year of growth.

He said there were "headwinds",particularly due to trade policy tensions that have hit confidence and business investment globally since May,but "the government's focus on productivity-enhancing reform will ensure our economy remains resilient".

"The international challenges are a stark reminder of why we must stick to our economic plan which has delivered lower taxes so you can keep more of what you earn,more infrastructure to boost productivity and which will return the budget back to surplus so we can meet the challenges that lie ahead," he said.

Question：Consider the statement,“In March,the OECD was expecting unemployment to start edging down. It has now lifted its forecasts,tipping unemployment to average 5.3 per cent in 2020.”If the unemployment rate increases,what are the costs to an economy? How does it compare with the natural rate of unemployment? （word limit: 200-300)

"The authors of the course textbook, American Government and Politics, describe deliberation as 'reasoning on the merits of public policy, searching for the public interest or common good.' What are three features of American government that contribute to deliberative democracy?"

Write a 2 page summary on the politics of consumption

Assume the banking system contains the following amounts. Use this information to answer five questions.

Total reserves$30billion

Transactions deposits$300billion

Cash held by public$400billion

Reserve requirement0.1

Instructions: Enter your responses rounded to the nearest whole number.

a. Are the banks fully utilizing their lending capacity?

• Yes

• No

b. What would happen to the money supply initially if the public deposited $20 billion of cash in transactions accounts?

• No change

• Increase by $20 billion

• Decrease by $20 billion

• More information is needed

c. What would the lending capacity of the banking system be after this deposit?

     $  billion

d. How large would the money supply be if the banks fully utilized their lending capacity?

     $  billion

e. What three policy tools could the Fed use to offset that potential growth in M1?

Demand in a perfectly competitive market is Q = 100 - P. Supply in that market is Q = P - 10.

(i) If the government imposes a $10 per unit sales tax, what is the consumer price, seller price, and quantity?

(ii) Once the government imposes the tax, how much consumer surplus, producer surplus, and dead-weight loss is there?

Put yourself in the shoes of the Egyptian Government. The country is already suffering from severe water shortages. In the future, the number of people needing water is going up drastically and the amount of water available will decrease once the dam in Ethiopia is finished.

1. What actions does the government have available? Come up with three options.
2. Discuss the cost/benefits or pros/cons of each option.
3. Evaluate the options and determine which one would be the best for the people of Egypt and their security.

Early industrial societies used whale oil in oil lamps and for lubricating machines. The composition of oil varied across whale species. For example, sperm whales were targeted because their oil commanded a higher price in the market. Whaling boomed in the 1800s. You can assume that the primary focus of commercial whaling was to recover oil.

a. Develop a simple graphical model to describe the growth and decline of whaling in the US over the period 1800 through 1900.

b. Describe the factors that led to the growth and decline of commercial whaling over the period 1800-1900. Provide evidence that supports the model provided in (a) above. Your research should consider the impact of technology, markets, prices, rules governing access, attributes of the resource, and other factors you might uncover.

c. Using (a) and (b) test the veracity of the “Demsetz hypothesis”: In a situation of unrestricted access to a resource, private property rights in that resource will emerge if the net benefits are positive. In other words, did private property rights emerge? If not, why not? Justify your answer.

to answer three questions regarding simultaneous shifts of demand curve and supply curve. How will each of the following changes in demand and/or supply affect equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity in a competitive market; that is, do price and quantity rise, fall, or remain unchanged, or are the answers indeterminate because they depend on the magnitudes of the shifts? Download and get a print out of the attached file. Then draw supply and demand curves on it using a pen in the space provided below to support your answers and upload a picture of the page on this link within the due date. Thank you.

1. Demand increases and supply increases.

2. Supply increases and demand decreases.

3. Demand decreases and supply decreases

I was able to get questions 1 - 4 answer and only need question 5 and its sub-parts.

Asymmetric Information and Separating Equilibrium

A population has two equal-sized members of "healthy" and "unhealthy" individuals. Members of each type have the same, identical, utility function: U = 20Y0.5 (i.e. 20 x Y raised to the 0.5 power), where Y is annual income.

Assume each individual, in either group, has disposable income (after normal expenses) of $19,000 a year. If in need of major medical care (and does not have insurance), each individual will have $15,000 in medical expenses. A "healthy" individual has a 6% probability, while an "unhealthy" individual has a 18% probability, of requiring major medical care.

Use the information above to answer the questions (1 through 5) below.

NOTE: An actuarially fair insurance premium (AFIP) is always calculated as: AFIP = (Medical expenses covered) x (Probability of occurring).

1. Calculate the AFIP of the full-coverage policy for a "healthy" individual.

2. Calculate the AFIP of the full-coverage policy for an "unhealthy" individual.  

3. Calculate the AFIP of a deductible policy for a "healthy" individual, for which the deductible is equal to $12,000.

4. Calculate the AFIP of a deductible policy for an "unhealthy" individual, for which the deductible is equal to $12,000.

5. Suppose health status ("healthy" or "unhealthy") represents asymmetric information: Each individual knows her or his health status, but insurance companies do not.  

Now, suppose an insurance company offers only two types of policies: 1) a full-coverage policy with premium equal to the most expensive (regardless of insurance type) of the two full-coverage policies.

a. In the boxes below, calculate expected utility for a "healthy" individual, for each scenario:

No Insurance:

Most Expensive Full-Coverage Policy (Option 1):

Least Expensive Deductible Policy (Option 2):

b. In the boxes below, calculate expected utility for an "unhealthy" individual, for each scenario:

No Insurance:

Most Expensive Full-Coverage Policy (Option 1):

Least Expensive Deductible Policy (Option 2):

c. Based on your answers in 5a. and 5b., which option would a representative member of each group (i.e. "healthy" and "unhealthy") choose?

d. In the box below, enter the insurance company's expected economic profit from selling the desired policy (from the individual's perspective) to a member of each group.

Expected Profit from "Healthy":

Expected Profit from "Unhealthy":

(a) Complete the blank columns.

(b)    Assume the price of this product equals $10. What’s the profit-maximizing output (q)?  Note: managers maximize profits by setting MR=MC and under perfectly competitive markets, MR=Price. Thus, maximize profit by producing q where P=MC.

(c)    What is the profit?

Discuss the causes and implications of the “nursing shortage” and discuss whether it is really a “shortage” as economists understand the term.