Topics for Final Exam
Principles of Economics 101
Winter 2013

At the scheduled final exam time: Tuesday March 19, 8:30 am


The final exam will be comprehensive. You will want to review the Topics for Exam 2: and Topics for Exam 1. You will need a calculator for this exam.

The following topics have been covered since the second exam.
Recent readings: Mankiw chapters: 23, 19, 12, 13


I. Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply

      A. Economic Fluctuation: Price Level and National Income
        1. Aggregate Demand: based on total spending
            a. C+I+G+NX
           
b. shifts
        2. Aggregate Supply: based on productive capacity
            a. resources, technology
            b. shifts
        3. Equilibrium

        4. Supply Shocks

              a. fewer resources

              b. stagflation

              c. limits to fiscal and monetary policy    

      B. Policy     
        1. expansionary policy (AD increases)
        2. contractionary policy (AD decreases)
        3. short-run policy trade-off between inflation and unemployment
        (Phillips Curve)
        4. Aggregate Supply policy

            a. expand resource base

            b. this often takes a long time to implement


     C. Long-run Aggregate Supply
            a. no long-run relation between price level and real output
            b. Long run AS is vertical

            c. economy is at full-employment
            d. stimulating AD is not effective at full employment

            e. resources matter


II. Macroeconomic Policy

      A. Short run: stabilize
            a. expansionary
                i. fiscal
                    - tax less
                     - spend more
                ii. monetary
                    - increase money supply
                    - decrease interest rates
          b. contractionary
                i. fiscal
                    - tax more
                     - spend less
                ii. monetary
                    - decrease money supply
                    - increase interest rates
        B. Long-run: growth       
            a. enhance resources
                 i. investment
                ii. research and development
                iii. education and training
                iv. health care
                v. immigration
                vi. conservation
                vii. environmental improvement
            b. policies that allow efficient use of resources
                i. legal system
                ii. free trade
                iii. non-discrimination


  

III. Financial Markets

A. Present value

    1. meaning

    2. calculations

        a. time

        b. impact of interest rate

 

B. Asset Allocation

            1. market risk is unavoidable & unpredictable

            2. some assets are riskier than others

            3. diversification across asset classes is important

 

C. Bond Markets

            1. debt : maturity, face value (par value) and coupon

            2. calculate present value

            3. secondary market value inversely related to interest rates

            4. risk

                a. bonds are low risk

                b. default risk

                   i. US Treasury securities: "risk free"

                    ii. bond ratings

                    iii. risk premium

                c. trading risk

                d. inflation

                e. exchange rate

                f. time

            5. Other credit instruments

               a. commercial paper

               b. mortgages

               c. mortgage backed securities (MBS)

               d. collateralized debt obligations (CDO)

 

D. Stock Markets

    1. equity or ownership

    2. value

        a. market value of assets

        b. stream of future earnings (PE ratio)

        c. future price

        d. expectations

   3. financial bubble

            a. adaptive expectations

            b. unsustainable

    5. efficient markets

        a.  assumes price reflects all available information

        b. assumes rational expectations

        c. implications; can’t beat market

    6. related financial instruments

        a. mutual funds

        b. index funds

        c. options    

 

E. Foreign Exchange Markets  [not discussed Winter 2013]

        1. Exchange rates determined by supply and demand

                        a. Supply of foreign currency

                                    -people willing to trade their currency for $

                                    - foreign demand for US exports and assets

                        b. Demand for foreign currency

                                    - people who want foreign currency and are willing to pay dollars

                                    - US demand for imports and foreign assets

                        c. Speculative buying and selling

                                    - expectations

            2. Any currency market can be expressed two ways

                        a. $1 US = X pesos

                        b. 1 peso = $ 1/X US

            3. Exchange rate fluctuation

                        a. depreciation

                        b. appreciation

                        c. causes

                                    1. change in imports

                                    2. change in exports

                                    3. change in GDP (acts through imports or exports)

                                    4. relative inflation  (faster rate of inflation leads to currency depreciation)

                                    5. changes in foreign investment
                                            i) foreign direct investment

                                            ii) foreign portfolio investment

                                    6. relative interest rates (lower rates lead to currency depreciation)

                                    7. expectations  

            4. Arbitrage

                        a. profit opportunity from price differences

                        b. buy in cheap location, sell in expensive location

                        c. prices change

                                    i) supply and demand in product markets

                                    ii) supply and demand in currency markets


IV. Market Structure and Profit Maximization

A. Market structures
1. competition
            a. many sellers
            b. identical products
            c. easy entry and exit
2. monopoly
            a. one seller
            b. no close substitutes
            c. barriers to entry
3. oligopoly
            a. a few sellers
            b. interdependence
4. monopolistic competition
            a. many sellers
            b. product differentiation

B. Industry versus individual firm demand
    1. monopoly: firm = market
    2. oligopoly: firm demand is only part of market
    3. monopolistic competition: firm is a small part of large market
    4. competition: firm is an infinitesimal part of market
            a. competitive firms are price takers
            b. firm demand is horizontal

 

C. Costs

A. fixed cost and variable costs
B. dimishing returns and increasing marginal cost
C. marginal and average cost
    1. U-shaped
    2.
minimum average cost is at intersection of AC and MC
D. Costs and Profit
    1. profit (P>ATC)
    2. loss (P<ATC)
    3. breakeven (P=ATC)
E. Sunk Costs
    1. unrecoverable
    2. no opportunity cost
    3. no impact on operating or exit decisions
    4. only affect entry decision


D. Profit Maximization

A. Economic Profit
    1. profit = total revenue - total cost
    2. optimal quantity: marginal revenue = marginal cost
    3. find price on demand curve at q*
B. Economic Loss
    1. exit (only in long run)
    2. short run
        a. minimize loss
        b. shutdown
C. Breakeven
    1. firm is covering all its costs
    2. no excess profit
D. The Long Run
    1.
Entry and Exit
            a. profits attract entry
               i. impact on industry
               ii. impact on firms
            b. losses cause exit
               i. impact on industry
               ii. impact on firms
     2. Scale
            a. economies of scale
                        i. advantages to large firms
                        ii. Concentrated markets
            b. diseconomies of scale
                        i. advantages to small firms
                        ii. Competive markets
            c. optimal firm size
                        i. long run
                        ii. efficiency

 

IV. Conclusions

    A. Prosperity depends on productive resources
        1. Capital
        2. Labor
        3.
Natural Resources

 

    B. Well-functioning markets allow society to get the most from its limited resources
            1. incentives are important
            2. trade benefits both sides
            3. society is worse off when markets can’t reach optimal outcomes
                        a. market failure
                        b. market interference

    C. Economic instability: recession and unemployment
        1. aggregate demand (Consumption, Investment, Government, Net Exports)
        2. economic shocks

    D. Policy can help

            1. need to balance short run and long run

            2. incentives matter

            3. watch for unintended consequences


 


 

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