Briefly describe the primary determinants of aggregate investment. Defend the relationship that exists between reductions in the real interest rate and the overall level of investment. Discuss two factors that lead to the observed historical volatility in investment spending. Explain a possible scenario in which aggregate investment spending decreases despite there being a decline in the economy’s real interest rate.

Twenty years ago, electronic device ownership was somewhat rare, and mobile phones closely resembled bricks. However, the technological revolution has seen the world become digitalised, providing consumers with a plethora of electronic goods, which are an integral part of life in the twenty first century. In fact, statistics indicate that smartphones are one of the most commonly owned electronic devices. According to the Yellow Social Media Report (2018) smartphone ownership in Australia increased by 6% from 81% in 2017 to 87% in 2018. These figures reflect industry trends of the increasing competition within the smartphones sector, thus giving consumers many choices when they are choosing to purchase a smartphone brand.

Step 5 of the process of segmenting a market is developing a positioning strategy. Explain what positioning is, including its use and importance in marketing. Second, explain perceptual mapping and outline the benefits of this tool. Finally, using your knowledge of smartphone brands, discuss the positioning (using and explaining two relevant positioning bases) of at least four smartphone brands and create a perceptual map to support your discussion.

Spratley Ltd is a builders’ merchant. On 1 September the business had, as part of its inventories, 20 tonnes of sand at a cost of £18 per tonne and, therefore, at a total cost of £360. During the first week in September, the business bought the following amounts of sand:

On 7 September the business sold 60 tonnes of sand to a local builder.

Required:

Calculate the cost of goods sold and of the remaining inventories using the following costing methods:

1. first in, first out

2. last in, first out

3. weighted average cost.

A national newspaper’s headline reads “Business Confidence Reaches Highest Level in 5 Years.”

(a) Draw a correctly labeled graph of the loanable funds market, and show the effect of high business confidence on the equilibrium real interest rate.

(b) Assume the government increases its spending on capital projects and infrastructure. Would financing the increased government spending by borrowing result in a higher, a lower, or the same equilibrium real interest rate? Explain.

(c) How will the increase in government spending financed by borrowing affect national savings?

(d) If the expected inflation rate decreases to zero, will the nominal interest rate be greater than, less than, or equal to the real interest rate? Explain.

Invest in science ~ The Pew Research Center conducted a survey of U.S. adults in 2019 to determine how American citizens feel about whether federal government should increase spending for scientific research. In the study, there were 712 Democrats and 652 Republicans. According to the survey, 438 Democrats and 270 Republicans said they are in favor of increased spending for scientific research.

We want to estimate the actual difference between the proportions of Democrats and Republicans who favor increased spending for scientific research.

Notation: 1=Democrats and 2=Republicans.

Based on this data, what is the upper bound for a 95% confidence interval for the difference in the population proportions, p1−p2p1-p2

Assume that a hypothetical economy with an MPC of 0.9 is experiencing severe recession. Instructions: In part a, round your answers to 2 decimal places. Enter positive numbers. In part b, enter your answers as whole numbers.

a. By how much would government spending have to rise to shift the aggregate demand curve rightward by $40 billion? $ billion. How large a tax cut would be needed to achieve the same increase in aggregate demand? $ billion.

b. Determine one possible combination of government spending increases and tax increases that would accomplish the same goal without changing the amount of outstanding debt. Increase spending by $ billion. Increase taxes by $ billion.

Ingles Corporation is a manufacturer of tables. The table tops are manufactured by Ingles, but the table legs are purchased from an outside supplier. The Assembly Department takes a manufactured table top and attaches the four purchased table legs. It takes 16 minutes of labor to assemble a table. The company follows a policy of producing enough tables to ensure that 40 percent of next month’s sales are in the current month’s finished goods inventory. Ingles also purchases sufficient materials to ensure that the current month’s ending materials inventory is 60 percent of the following month’s direct materials required for production. Ingle’s sales budget in units for the next quarter is as follows: July 2,450 August 2,900 September 2,100 Ingle’s ending inventories in units for July 31 are as follows: Finished goods 1,900 Materials (legs) 4,000

Requirements: 1. Prepare Ingle’s production budget for tables in August. 2. Prepare Ingle’s August direct materials purchases budget for table legs. 3. How many employees will be required for the Assembly Department in August? Fractional employees are acceptable since employees can be hired on a part-time basis. Assume a 40-hour week and a 4-week month.

Use the following graphs to answer the next question.

In the graphs, the numbers in parentheses near the AD₁, AD₂, and AD₃ labels indicate the level of investment spending associated with each curve, respectively. All numbers are in billions of dollars. The interest rate and the level of investment spending in the economy are at point C on the investment demand curve. To achieve the long-run goal of a noninflationary, full-employment output of Q_f in the economy, the Fed should try to _____.

a. increase aggregate demand by increasing the interest rate

b. increase aggregate demand by decreasing the interest rate

c. make no change in the interest rate

Use the following graphs to answer the next question.​

In the graphs, the numbers in parentheses near the AD₁, AD₂, and AD₃ labels indicate the levels of investment spending associated with each curve. All figures are in billions. What is the desired level of investment spending in this economy if the goal is to achieve a noninflationary, full-employment level of real GDP?​

a. $50 billion

b. $100 billion

c. $225 billion

Choose only ONE of the following to write your post (minimum of 200 words, maximum of 500 words):

1. You learned that there are 4 components of the AD: consumption spending, investment spending, government spending, and spending on exports minus imports. A change in one of these components would lead to a shift in the AD curve, causing an impact on real GDP and price level. Give one original example for each component explaining how this example would shift the AD curve (to the right or to the left) and how this will impact in the economy's real GDP and Price Level (will it cause them to increase or decrease?).

2. During the 1970s a new phenomenon called STAGFLATION happened in the U.S. economy. Stagflation means economic stagnation and inflation, so what was observed was high unemployment and inflation. During the 1970s what explained this situation was the supply shocks. Do a brief research on the internet and explain what a supply shock is and give 2 examples of supply shocks that affected the U.S. economy during the 1970s.

In a poll, 412 of 1030 randomly selected adults aged 18 or older stated that they believe there is too little spending on national defense. Use this information to complete parts (a) through (d) below.

(A) Obtain a point estimate for the proportion of adults aged 18 or older who feel there is too little spending on national defense.

(B) Are the requirements for construction a confidence interval about p satisfied?

-a) Yes, the requirements are satisfied.

-b) No, the requirements of the sample being a random sample are not satisfied.

-c) No, the requirement that np(1-p) is greater than 10 is not satisfied.

-d) No, the requirement that the sample size is no more than 5% of the population is not satisfied.

C) Construct a 90% confidence interval for the proportion of adults aged 18 or older who believe there is too little spending on national defense.

The 90% confidence interval is ( ___ , ___ )

D) Is it possible that more than 45% of adults aged 18 or older believe there is too little spending on national defense? Is it likely?

-a) It is possible, but not likely.

-b) It is not possible.

-c) It is possible and likely.