What is a mixed economy
Who are Karl Marx, Adam Smith, and John Maynard Keynes? What were their contributions to economics?
What are the characteristics of Primitive Communalism, the Slave economy, Feudalism, Socialism, and Capitalism?
What does scarcity imply about tradeoffs? What is the opportunity cost of a choice?
Define GDP. What does GDP include/not include? Explain the difference between nominal and real GDP, explain the concept of a base year, and identify intermediate and final goods. Why is GDP not a measure of well-being? Why is GDP difficult to measure across different countries?
Explain the concept of the labor market. How is Unemployment measured (by whom?) and defined. What is missing from this measure and why might it underestimate unemployment? Define the concepts of underemployed and discouraged workers. What is the current unemployment rate.What is full-employment? Define and provide an example of frictional, structural, and cyclical unemployment.
What is purchasing power and how does inflation effect it? What is the money wage, nominal wage and the real wage? How is inflation measured? By which organization? What are the three myths of inflation? How can inflation hurt those on fixed incomes? Who are the most likely to be hurt (minimum wage workers; why?)? What is a COLA? How can inflation harm lenders? What must be done to mitigate this? Explain the Fisher equation. How does inflation harm capital owners? Why is this not an economic problem? What are capital gains?
What is the difference between stabilization policy and economic growth policy? What are the important ways to promote economic growth?
What is National Income and Aggregate Demand? What are the four components of AD? Which is the largest? Smallest? Most volatile? Provide several examples of each.
List and explain the six determinants of Consumption. Which is most important and thus, which one is used to create the consumption function? Draw and describe the Consumption function graph. What would cause this graph to shift up or down? (Note: if the other 5 determinants change, the function shifts up or down).
List and explain the five determinants of Investment.
Draw, label, and explain the Expenditure function (E = C+I+G+NX). Draw, label and explain "all possible equilibria" or Y=E. What shifts the expenditure function? What is the situation called when YfY(equilibrium)? How do we solve this issue using Fiscal Policy?
What is the multiplier and how does it work?
What are the three Fiscal Policy tools? Explain how they each work. Why does a change in G have a larger multiplier impact than do changes in C and I?
Explain why the Keynesian model (the expenditure function) was found lacking in the 1970s. Explain the new AS/AD model. Draw and label the graph. Anything that shifts the expenditure function will shift the AD curve. What are positive and adverse supply shocks and how do they impact the AS/AD model?
Until the 1980s, fiscal policy was used to impact AD. Explain how Supply-side tax cuts changed this. What is the idea behind these tax cuts? What were the problems with these tax cuts?
Explain how the 1990s changed our views about the tradeoffs of inflation and unemployment? In other words, what was unique about the economy during this time period. Why did this occur?
What is barter and why is it less efficient than trade using money? What are the three functions of money? For money to be useful it must have which characteristics? How did banking come into being?
What is the Federal Reserve System in the US? Explain the four components of the Fed. Explain the purpose of the Fed.
What are the Monetary Policy tools? How does the Fed use them? Explain how the market for money influences the Product market. Draw the money market and product market and show how a monetary policy action (such as cutting the supply of money) influences.
What is Quantitative Easing?
Explain how fiscal policy and monetary policy can work together or work against each other. In other words, if Congress is trying to expand the economy but the FED decides to slow the economy down, what will be the result?