kaplan bu204 all units journal [ all 10 journal ]

Journal entry questions are related to the application of the key concepts you learn to the real-world economic issues. The Journal questions contain the key economic principles and ideas related to the Macroeconomics topics you are learning. Please feel free to express your perspectives, and state how the economic principles and ideas affect your economic decision making process. You should note that there is a limit to the number of words for the Journal entry. You can only enter the maximum 400 words.

For instructions on adding a journal entry click the Directions icon below.

Journal

• According to the Principles of Economics, economic principles guide how we make economic choices and how we interact in the market. What role do economic principles play in your personal economic decisions (choices)? Do you encounter scarcity either personally or in your workplace? What are the kinds of scarcity you encounter?
• To make rational economic decisions, we need to compare costs and benefits. Suppose you are trying to decide whether to take a vacation. The majority of the costs of the vacation are measured in monetary terms (dollars), but the benefits of the vacation are generally non-monetary in nature. How do you compare the non-monetary benefits with the monetary costs? What are the economic (opportunity) costs of going on vacation? Explain in terms of economic costs, which include both monetary and non-monetary costs.

Journal entry questions are related to the application of the key concepts you learn to the real-world economic issues. The questions contain key economic principles and ideas related to the Macroeconomics topics you are learning. Please feel free to express your perspectives and state how the economic principles and ideas affect your economic decision making process. You should note that there is a limit to the number of words for the Journal entry. You can only enter the maximum 400 words.

For instructions on adding a journal entry click the Directions icon below.

Journal

• Absolute and comparative advantages differ in both meaning and importance. An individual or a country may have absolute advantages in producing several products and services whereas others may have comparative advantages. Give an example in which one person has absolute advantages in doing two things but another person has a comparative advantage in doing one of the tasks. Will both individuals benefit if they specialize in a task based on their comparative advantage and engage in trade? Why?
• The circular flow diagram shows us how economic agents interact in various markets once the economic decisions (choices) are made. As an economic agent, in which market do you participate in the circular flow diagram? How does the flow diagram help you understand the roles of the economic agents in the market?

Journal entry questions are related to the application of the key concepts you learn to the real-world economic issues. The questions contain key economic principles and ideas related to the Macroeconomics topics you are learning. Please feel free to express your perspectives and state how the economic principles and ideas affect your economic decision making process. You should note that there is a limit to the number of words for the Journal entry. You can only enter the maximum 400 words.

Journal

• Economists argue that successful business depends on creating sustainable and effective supply and demand networks. If you own (manage) a business, how do you create effective demand and effective supply to maximize profit?
• There are pros and cons of relying on various policy instruments. Assume there is a proposal to raise tax revenue in order to make workers better off. The proposal includes raising the payroll tax paid by firms to use part of the extra revenue to reduce the payroll tax paid by workers. What are its pros and cons? Explain.

Journal entry questions are related to the application of the key concepts you learn to the real-world economic issues. The questions contain key economic principles and ideas related to the Macroeconomics topics you are learning. Please feel free to express your perspectives and state how the economic principles and ideas affect your economic decision making process. You should note that there is a limit to the number of words for the Journal entry. You can only enter the maximum 400 words.

Journal

• It is customary for the News media to report about consumer confidence and investor confidence while discussing the national economy. How do you think the confidence of the economic agents affect the economy? From personal or work experience, state factors that could cause increase in consumer spending and investor investment. Do consumer and investor confidence trend reports affect your spending pattern? Explain.
• The government purchases component of GDP does not include spending on transfer payments such as Social Security. GDP does not also include the value of used goods that are resold. Do you think such exclusion make GDP a less informative measure of economic well-being? What other production of goods and services do you think are excluded from the GDP? What is the impact of such exclusion on the economic welfare?

Journal entry questions are related to the application of the key concepts you learn to the real-world economic issues. The questions contain key economic principles and ideas related to the Macroeconomics topics you are learning. Please feel free to express your perspectives and state how the economic principles and ideas affect your economic decision making process. You should note that there is a limit to the number of words for the Journal entry. You can only enter the maximum 400 words.

Journal

• According to the textbook, the changes in the macroeconomic indicators affect the economic decisions of the 3 economic agents (household, firms, and government). Assume you are a business owner (manager). How do you use macroeconomic indicators in your business plan and strategy? Why are the indicators relevant for business decision making process? How do they affect business profit?
• There is an ongoing debate on how the unemployment rate is measured in the economy. Some people argue that the reported (official) unemployment rate actually understates the extent of unemployment in the economy. What are your opinions on official rate of unemployment? How do you think the official unemployment data can be improved to be a better measure of unemployment in the economy?

Journal entry questions are related to the application of the key concepts you learn to the real-world economic issues. The questions contain key economic principles and ideas related to the Macroeconomics topics you are learning. Please feel free to express your perspectives and state how the economic principles and ideas affect your economic decision making process. You should note that there is a limit to the number of words for the Journal entry. You can only enter the maximum 400 words.

Journal

• According to economic growth theory, the level of the GDP and the rate of the real GDP growth rate have different economic implications about the economic well-being of a country. If you are given the options, would you rather live in a nation with a high level of GDP and a low growth rate or in a nation with a low level of GDP and a high growth rate? Why?
• Economists consider education as an investment that has both private and social benefits. Education is also the major source of human capital, which is the most important form of capital for the long term economic growth. What is the opportunity cost of investing in human capital? Do you think a country can “overinvest” in human capital? What is the opportunity cost of attending college? Explain.

Journal entry questions are related to the application of the key concepts you learn to the real-world economic issues. The questions contain key economic principles and ideas related to the Macroeconomics topics you are learning. Please feel free to express your perspectives and state how the economic principles and ideas affect your economic decision making process. You should note that there is a limit to the number of words for the Journal entry. You can only enter the maximum 400 words.

Journal

• The change in money supply affects the economic agents. Suppose the Federal Reserve increases the money supply to boost aggregate demand during recessionary pressure. How does the increase in money supply affect consumer spending and investment? How does it affect the firm or organization you work for? How do the Federal Reserve policies affect us as individuals (households)?
• High rate of inflation is considered bad for the economy since it has various costs. What are the costs of inflation? Which of these costs do you think are most important for the U.S. economy? What are your shoe leather costs of going to the bank? How might you measure these costs in dollars? How do you think the shoe leather costs of your college president differ from your own?

Journal entry questions are related to the application of the key concepts you learn to the real-world economic issues. The questions contain key economic principles and ideas related to the Macroeconomics topics you are learning. Please feel free to express your perspectives and state how the economic principles and ideas affect your economic decision making process. You should note that there is a limit to the number of words for the Journal entry. You can only enter the maximum 400 words.

Journal

• The interest rate affects the investment patterns in the economy. A friend of yours suggests a get-rich-quick scheme: Borrow from the nation with the lower nominal interest rate, invest in the nation with the higher nominal interest rate, and profit from the interest-rate differential. Do you see any potential problems with this idea? Explain. What are the cons of the strategy?
• Consumer spending during holiday seasons affects the aggregate demand (AD) in the economy. AD drastically declines during serious recessions. In 1939, with the U.S. economy not yet fully recovered from the Great Depression, President Roosevelt proclaimed that Thanksgiving would fall a week earlier than usual so that the shopping period before Christmas would be longer. Explain what President Roosevelt might have been trying to achieve, using the model of aggregate demand and aggregate supply. Was the policy effective to increase AD?

Journal entry questions are related to the application of the key concepts you learn to the real-world economic issues. The questions contain key economic principles and ideas related to the Macroeconomics topics you are learning. Please feel free to express your perspectives and state how the economic principles and ideas affect your economic decision making process. You should note that there is a limit to the number of words for the Journal entry. You can only enter the maximum 400 words.

Journal

• Consumer and investor optimism and pessimism matter a great deal in the economy. Suppose that survey measures of consumer confidence indicate a wave of pessimism is sweeping the country. If policymakers do nothing, what will happen to aggregate demand? What should the Federal Reserve do if it wants to stabilize aggregate demand? If the Federal Reserve does nothing, what do you think might Congress (fiscal policy) do to stabilize aggregate demand? Why do you think consumer and investor confidence affect AD and hence the economy?
• One of the most debated areas in economics is balancing the budget. The major contention is on the timing of the policy. If the government were to operate under a strict balanced-budget rule, what do you think would it have to do in a recession? Should it follow the strict rule? Would that make the recession more or less severe? Why?

Journal entry questions are related to the application of the key concepts you learn to the real-world economic issues. The questions contain key economic principles and ideas related to the Macroeconomics topics you are learning. Please feel free to express your perspectives and state how the economic principles and ideas affect your economic decision making process. You should note that there is a limit to the number of words for the Journal entry. You can only enter the maximum 400 words.

Journal

• Studies indicate that the changes in fiscal and monetary policy affect the 3 economic agents in the economy (households, firms and government). How do the changes in monetary and fiscal policy instruments affect you personally or work wise? Policymakers who want to stabilize the economy must decide how much to change the money supply, government spending, or taxes. Why is it difficult for policymakers to choose the appropriate strength of their actions? Which method do you think is better in the long run? Why?
• Some economists and policymakers argue in favor of replacing the current income tax in the USA with consumption tax. What are your opinions on the issue? How do think such change impacts your income and expenditure pattern? Which tax method do you prefer- Income tax or consumption tax? Why? What are the pros and cons of the two tax methods?