The business cycle is a tricky concept. Economists have studied why economies experience large shifts in demand for good and services for centuries. Many indicators of economic performance (or lack thereof) exist, and as many theories exist to explain them.
You’ll also want to read Barro, chapter 8, before this lecture.
Economists pretend we can measure the [...]
In the last few lectures, we’ve looked at growth theory and the stakes involved in getting the basics wrong. We saw the Solow model’s predictions about sustained capital accumulation (): keep population growth low, keep savings () and therefore investment() rather high, and try to curb depreciation on assets. Technical progress and human capital move [...]
Also tagged Economic, Economic growth, Exogenous growth model, General equilibrium, Macroeconomics, Model, Population growthWhy are we so rich and they so poor? This is the fundamental question in macroeconomics. Economists agree that the main way to enrich a country and its people is to create the conditions which allow it to grow its way out of poverty. By growth, I mean GDP growth of course.
We have seen in [...]
The Solow Growth model attempts to explain the features of growth we encountered in the last lecture. We need to be able to explain movements in capital accumulation, labour force growth, and technology.
Beginning from the growth accounting equation
and simplifying the notation to look at accumulation in per worker (, etc) terms with no technological change, [...]
Also tagged Economic, Economic growth, Economy of the United States, Exogenous growth model, Net Domestic Product, Recession, United StatesLast week we looked at the scope of macroeconomics, albeit quite briefly. This week we’ll get into some national accounts and growth questions. We’ll talk about the main questions in growth theory, motivate it with an example, and discuss the macroeconomic particulars a theory of growth and development has to explain. It’s always useful to [...]
Also tagged Economic, Economic growth, Health, Macroeconomics, National Accounts, Social Sciences, United StatesI’ve got some numbers for you.
There are 6.7 billion people on planet earth right now. 300 people are born every minute, 1/10 of them born to teenagers. 16 of those 300 babies will die by age 5. One of their mothers will die in childbirth, which if you work it out is 40,000 people dead [...]
Click below to watch Robert Kennedy talking about Gross National Product and its flaws, more than 40 years ago. EC4004 students should pay particular interest. It’s a lovely piece of film.
Via Economist’s View via via the other EV
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Looking at Ireland’s National Income, 2002-2007
Cooking GDP, Unemployment, and Inflation numbers
Celtic Tiger’s economy shrinks
Inflation Is 11.6% If Calculated [...]
Here’s an interview I did this morning on Live 95FM with Ed Myers, following on from a previous post about the move of the budget.
My main point was the government needs to strike the correct balance of decreased public spending, increased taxes, wage moderation, and borrowing. Ireland has a pretty low national debt, so borrowing [...]
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NCB released its latest report on the services sector, and the report contained two really interesting graphs, which I’m reproducing below.
We see two trends in the series. First, while overall business activity as measured by the top chart is down, the level of activity is around the same level as in 2003, [...]
A quick update on this post. I’d like to give an example of what I mean by a rebate program to help stimulate the housing market.
Example. Adam and Barbara are a thirty something couple with a combined income of 48,000 euros per year. They have two children, and want to buy a house for their [...]