Assignment:
A minimum of 100 words each question and References
1. Today the United States has unemployed people who began as cyclically unemployed during the recession but have since become structurally unemployed because their skills have become obsolete. How important is the idea of remaining up-to-date on training and skills in the work force? Is there a certain industry that requires skills to be current?
2. According to the article "What Does GDP Really Tell Us About Economic Growth," located in Topic Materials, Khan discusses the pitfalls of GDP. Describe how these pitfalls have affected the overall economic status of a country. Conduct research to find an example of a country that has been affected by the pitfalls of GDP and describe the circumstances surrounding the country's position.
3. The role of a bank is to move funds from savers to spenders. What happens when savings rates are too high? An example would be people saving so much money that the banks cannot keep up? Would you agree that the United States is in that situation now? What could the Federal Reserve do to help solve that problem?
4. Explain how a bank's ability to create transaction deposit accounts through loans creates money.
5. Discuss why countries create barriers to trade when economic theory shows trade as being beneficial to a nation. Who benefits from international trade? Who loses from international trade? How can the negative effects of the failures from international trade be reduced? Do you agree with the concept of trade barriers? Why or why not?
6. In January 2015, several large multinational corporations announced lower than expected earnings for the fourth quarter of 2014. Many blamed the monotonous profits on a strong dollar. How does this work? When the dollar gains value against foreign currencies, why does it hurt U.S. exports? How could this affect the demand for dollars and ultimately affect the exchange rate?