Pick any two questions (each question should be half a page)

21. How is the Fed structured so the focus of their policies is on the long term health of the U.S. economy, not political gain (which tends to focus on shorter term goals due to election cycles) or personal gain?

22. Zimbabwe’s inflation rate in July 2009 was reported at 1 percent a month. Last year, Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate was more than 231,000,000 percent, a kilo of tomatoes cost 61 billion Zimbabwe dollars. Compare inflation in Zimbabwe in 2009 with that in Germany in 1923. Why did Germany print money in 1923 and create hyperinflation? Why is Zimbabwe printing less money today?

23. Baby boomers will result in a massive increase in the Social Security and Medicare benefits that need to be paid. The government’s Social Security and Medicare obligations are a debt (estimated at $80 trillion) that must be considered when developing a path towards fiscal sustainability. What are the options for addressing the Social Security and Medicare time-bomb? 24. Explain why Australia and Canada have the smallest budget deficits as a percent of GDP.

25. What went wrong in Japan and the United Kingdom that resulted in large deficits?

26. Design specific fiscal policy you would recommend, given the current state of the economy. What are the demand and supply-side effects of the policies you are proposing? How long will it take for these policies to have their desired effects? What are the short and long-term effects of these policies?

27. What is financial stability, and what actions has the Fed since 2007 in pursuit of financial stability?

28. Compare and contrast the Fed’s monetary policy in the Great Depression and the 2008-2009 recession.

29.Examine China's decision to retain fixed foreign exchange rates.

Pick any two questions (each question should be half a page)

1. The acceleration of economic growth in the last two decades has made economic decision-making more complex as multinational concerns must be taken into account. Explain.

2. The Information Revolution, an economic restructuring comparable to the Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution, has brought about new questions of social interest. Elaborate.

3. Climatologists agree that global warming is at least in part the result of economic activity. The warming may lead to large economic costs. How can individuals and nations satisfy their self-interested desire for goods and services while also protecting the social-interest of the environment?

4. Think about the trends in what and how goods and services are produced in the U.S. and global economies. Do you think that at some future time, there will be no jobs in the United States and all the jobs will be in developing economies?

5. Compare the scale of agricultural production in the advanced and developing economies.

6. China is currently the world’s second largest economy. It is predicted to surpass the U.S. to become the biggest economy in the not-too-distant future. How does this development influence the strategic balance and the position of the United States? 7. Analyze the U.S. real estate market.

8. During 2007, as oil and gas prices continued to increase, a growing number of Americans called for the United States to become less reliant on Middle-Eastern oil. Would it make sense for the United States to try to become totally self-reliant in the production of oil? Why or why not?

9. Because wage rates are so low in Africa, why don't Microsoft, Cisco and other major corporations close down their American operations and move to Africa?

Waymo is a division of Alphabet (Google’s parent company) that is developing the technology for driverless

cars. Waymo CEO John Krafcik is under pressure to offer a commercial driverless taxi service in the Phoenix

area as soon as Fall 2018. Analysis at web-site arstechnica.com suggests that Waymo has by far the most

advanced technology available for this type of service.

Is it likely that being first into this market will give them a large advantage? Is Waymo likely to earn

unusually high accounting profit for a long period of time? Discuss using concepts from this class.

We are all familiar with fast food operations. Research how balanced scorecard is used in the fast food operation or other chosen industries. Your posting should be a discussion of balanced scorecards considering any or all the question below:

• Discuss how the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard changed the way organizations focused on different measures.
• Why was the process to create measures for the scorecard “painful”?
• What were the challenges with selecting measurements for a balance Scorecard?
• How would an organization use Balanced Scorecard and save time in developing one for itself?

If you have worked for an organization that adopted the balanced scorecard concepts, share your personal experiences with us.

When Japan’s “1955 System” took root in that year, it was thought by many that the Japan Socialist Party (JSP) would get stronger and eventually win general elections. Explain at least two reasons for why observers thought the JSP was in a good position in 1955.

1. Why do you think it's difficult for our generation to save money?
2. Share one piece of budgeting/financial advice you've learned or heard

The informal sector is becoming an ever-larger part of the urban economy. Just as much as some benefits accrue to the individuals belonging to the informal sector, there are benefits that accrue to the formal sector as a result of the existence of the informal sector as well. On the other hand, duality, inequality and urban poverty also result from the existence of the informal sector. Distinguish between the urban formal and informal sectors, and discuss both the positive and the negative aspects of the informal urban labor market.

Write an essay, to distinguish between the urban formal and informal sectors, and discuss both the positive and the negative aspects of the informal urban labor market

An increase in female non-agricultural wage employment opportunities is likely to reduce birth rates if the price effect is stronger than the income effect. Explain with a graph.

You have been asked by the minister of the economy in your country to make policy recommendations pertaining to your country’s high rate of growth of population growth among the poor. Displeased with the prospect of growing poverty the minister is hesitating between providing subsidies to poor families to reward them for few children or increasing funding to health care. Not being able to afford both policies, which of the two areas will you suggest that funds be allocated to? Write a report to the minister, justifying your choice and explaining why you think that your chosen area will contribute most to reducing poverty among the poor. Make sure to look at the problem from all sides.

The Big Push model illustrates alternative cases where the economy can reach equilibrium with a higher level of total output with coordinated efforts by modern firms and cases where such an outcome is impossible despite such efforts. Explain with a graph only the case where there exists a possibility of a coordination failure.

Suppose that a developing country devotes extensive resources towards improving the education and skill level of the labor force. How might this help the economy avoid a coordination failure? Is this strategy likely to be successful? Why or why not?

Two rural individuals Matyás and Toka are contemplating leaving their village for a nearby town. Given that Matyás has a secondary school certificate, she has a higher probability of obtaining an urban sector job than Toka, who is a primary school drop out. If they remain in the village and work on their family farms, they earn $200 each per year if the yield is high and $100 per year if the yield is low. The yield will be high with probability 0.5 and low with probability 0.5. Alternatively both these individuals can choose to migrate to town, in which case they each expect to find a formal or informal sector job, paying the following earnings according to the given probabilities.

1. (a) According to the Harris-Todaro model, on a one-year time horizon, which individual will migrate? [2 points]

2. (b) On the three-year time horizon, which individual(s) will migrate? (Assume the rate of interest at which both can borrow or lend money is i = 5%) [5 points]

3. (c) Assume a one-year time horizon. Suppose now that there is a traditional family support payment of $40 that all urban migrants must pay yearly to their relatives back in the village. At the same time, each bears a ‘psychological cost’ associated with moving to the city. Such a cost is $25 for Matyás and $15 for Toka. Again, according to the Harris-Todaro model, which farmer will migrate to town? [5 points]

4. (d) Assume a one-year time horizon, Still maintaining the ‘psychological’ costs associated with moving to the city, suppose now that all formal jobs also come with medical benefits, which are worth $30 a year, in additional to the wage. Informal sector jobs do not carry any such benefits. According to the Harris- Todaro model once again, which individuals will migrate to town? [3 points]

Enrique lives in rural Ecuador and is finishing his high school. As an outstanding student, he was accepted by the leading private university, University de Quito to study in a two year program on comparative literature and linguistics to become a college teacher. If he goes to university, he will pay a tuition fee of $1000 ($1 = 1 peso) per year (for 2 years). Suppose also that there is a “psychological” cost of $400 associated with moving to the city of Quito, which represents the money equivalent (paid only once in the first period) of leaving his family / girlfriend.

In the first year, Enrique can work in the library of the university and earn $1000 per year, while during the summer of the second year he can do an internship and earn $2000. At the third year, he may start working as a college teacher, where he will earn $4000 per year for the first 2 years of his career. For the sake of this exercise, suppose that we only have 4 periods.

If Enrique refuses to go to University, he will work on the family farm and will earn $1000 per year for the first two years. His father promises him a salary equal of $3000 from the third year. Consider a discount factor of 10%.

1. a) Calculate the expected present value benefits of studying.[7points]

2. b) Calculate the expected present value costs of studying (direct and indirect costs) [7

   points]

3. c) Should Enrique go to the University? [1 points]

1- Give two examples of how the United States prepared to fight World War II before war was declared?

2- Give two examples of how the Allies planned for the post-war world.?

What is a production function? What does it describe? How is it used?

Define "marginal product". How is it calculated? How is it used?