Discuss the effectiveness of fiscal policy measures in reducing aggregate demand?
Discuss the effectiveness of fiscal policy measures in reducing aggregate demand. Fiscal policy is the use of taxation and government spending to influence the economy. In most cases, fiscal policy is used to manage the total spending on goods and services produced in the economy. Total spending is also known as aggregate demand, which contains consumption, a major part, investment, government spending, and export - import. Theoretically, any increase in all sorts of taxes could lower the total demand, which could also be achieved through a reduction in the government spending. But AD does not work solely in the economy, its interaction with AS could bring different changes in the economy as in different situations. That is because the resources in the whole economy are constant in the short run, which would only produce certain amount goods and services at a certain period of time. At the very beginning, resources are not being fully used, spare capacity enable an expansion in the production. This process would generate more income without raising too much inflation. In the second stage, part of resources are used up, any increase in demand won't bring any increase in the level of output, but on the other hand, inflation could occur because any increase in prices would discourage potential buyers which cut off the excess demand. Next, almost all the resources are being
Discuss the extent to which the use of trade barriers by developing economies is an appropriate policy for such economies.
Discuss the extent to which the use of trade barriers by developing economies is an appropriate policy for such economies. Protectionist measures are those such as tariffs, quotas, subsidies and regulation. Tariffs are taxes on imported goods which create revenue for the government and protect domestic industries from the high pressure of the world trade market. Quotas are limits on the amount of imports allowed in a country. Subsidies are given to the producers in order to reduce costs and encourage production in that sector. A developing economy may decide to enforce tariffs on its importers. The government may d o this to discourage imported goods from being bought and encourage the demand for domestic goods. This would lead to domestic business's increasing output and therefore there would be an increase in employment and the economy would see a growth in its GDP. The tax on imports would generate more revenue and allow the governments to spend in the economy, especially on education, health and infrastructure which is what many developing economies struggle with. This would therefore lead to an increase in aggregate demand. With the price of imported goods being higher than domestically produced ones, in the long run foreign suppliers are likely to decrease supply to those nations with tariffs, due to the lack of demand. Again this would stimulate growth in domestic
Assess the importance of international trade to the UK economy
Assess the importance of international trade to the UK economy Introduction International trade is an essential feature of the UK economy, it is vital for the UK so that it can sustain its economics strengths and progress in an increasingly competitive global economy. In this essay I shall examine the significance of international trade. First I shall identify how the UK economy operates on an international level. Second, I shall consider the costs and benefits of international trade, and how the UK economy has been influenced by international trade and the consequences of an increasingly globalised economy. As we shall see, international trade has been vital for the UK economy to develop throughout the colonial period, and the post war period. The issue of globalisation has created clear economic uncertainty and the evident understanding that the UK economy is susceptible to effects that are clearly outside its realm of influence. Introduction to International Trade International Trade can be phrased as "the exchange of goods and services across international borders (Wikipeda.com). In most countries, it represents a significant share of GDP. The significance of international trade varies within each economy. Some nations export essentially to expand their domestic market or to aid economically depressed sectors within the home economy. Many other nations rely on
A free market is an economic system where the prices of goods and services are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses.
A free market is an economic system where the prices of goods and services are determined by unrestricted competition between privately owned businesses. Scarce resources are allocated through the price mechanism where consumer demand and preference and the supply decisions of businesses come together to determine equilibrium prices. The limitations of a free market are set by the business cycle and include: Failure to provide public and merit goods, inequality of income, negative externalities, monopoly power abuse and fluctuations in economic activity. All these limitations contribute to market failure. Public goods cannot be provided in a free market economy because these goods have to provide publicly, and have to be non-excludable. An example of a public good would be a park, where a business would not be able to charge a usage fee to those who use it, as it is non-excludable. A privately owned business firm would not be benefitted by providing public goods, as they would not receive sufficient funding to continuously provide public goods. There is also a problem with merit goods like healthcare and education, which tend to be under provided in a free market. Unlike public goods, merit goods are excludable. With merit goods such as healthcare, only those with sufficient income would be able to access the service and those who have insufficient income would not be able
Analyse and Evaluate the significance of Fiscal Policy rules and Fiscal Policy targets and constraints in promoting Economic Growth, Economic Stability and International Competitiveness
Analyse and Evaluate the significance of Monetary Policy rules and Monetary Policy targets and constraints in promoting Economic Growth, Economic Stability and International Competitiveness L1. Monetary policies are where the government use changes in the base rate of interest to influence the rate of growth of aggregate demand, the money supply and ultimately price inflation. In the short run economic growth is an increase in real GDP, In the long run economic growth is an increase in productive capacity (the maximum output an economy can produce) Economic Stability - the avoidance of volatility in economic growth rates, inflation, employment and unemployment and exchange rates. International Competitiveness - The ability of an economy's firms to compete in international markets and, thereby, sustain increases in national output and income. L2. Monetary policies can be used to promote economic growth, Economic (this stability reduces uncertainty, promotes business, consumer confidence and investment) and International Competitiveness. This causes an ? in AD, which can be good for an economy. For example if a Government ? interest rates, people will have an ? in disposable income, because payments on credit cards will ?, mortgage payments will ? and it is not worth saving due to the reduced rate of interest, meaning they have more to spend on goods and services, thus
Explain how the equilibrium level of output is determined in perfect competition. Both for the whole market and one firm within the market
Explain how the equilibrium level of output is determined in perfect competition. Both for the whole market and one firm within the market: The equilibrium is the point where economic forces are balanced and there are no external influences. The equilibrium is the condition where a market price is established through competition such that the amount of goods or services sought by buyers is equal to the amount of goods or services produced by sellers. Perfect competition describes a market in which no buyer or seller has market power. Such markets are usually allocatively and productively efficient. In general a perfectly competitive market is characterized by the fact that no single firm has influence on the price of the product it sells. A perfectly competitive market has many distinguishing factors. A market in perfect competition has many people who are willing and able to buy a product as well as a many buyers who are willing and able to produce the products. The products the firms supply are exactly the same. Another distinguishing characteristic in a perfectly competitive market is that there are low entry and exit barriers to the market, and it is relatively easy for a firm to enter or exit the market. There is also perfect information for the consumers and producers. Most importantly, in a perfectly competitive market, the firms aim to maximize profits, firms aim
To what extent is economic growth desirable
To what extent is economic growth desirable? In economics, short term economic growth translates to a rise in real GDP, and in the long term an increase in the maximum output (aggregate goods and services) an economy can produce. Growth is caused by an increase in aggregate demand; this may be as a result of higher consumer expenditure, more investment or as seen recently in BRIC, a substantial increase in exports which all form a component of AD. Economic growth is seen to be extremely desirable by all governments as it solves many problems of modern life; there are of course many consequences but this is a small price to pay compared to what could be gained, so economic growth is desirable. The benefits of economic growth for all economies and especially LEDCs are increased employment, reduced poverty and a higher standard of living. These events occur because as AD increases, more factors of production, most notably labour are needed to produce goods and services for the economy. When this occurs on a large scale unemployed workers shift into employment. This is beneficial as governments provide less social security for the population, so they can spend money on public services. As a result of increase government spending, the quality of services such as education, health and shelter will become better hence improving the standard of living. Previously unemployed workers
An Introduction to Aggregate Demand
Macroeconomics H/W 3 - An Introduction to Aggregate Demand The formula for AD is C + I + G + (X-M) a) C - Consumer expenditure - spending by households on consumer products (e.g. clothing, food and insurance). I - Investment - spending on capital goods. G - Government spending - spending by the central government and local government on goods and services. X - Exports - products sold abroad. M - Imports - products bought from abroad. (X-M) - Net exports - the value of exports minus the value of imports. b) Consumer expenditure, or consumption, is the largest component in most countries. It is basically spending by households on consumer goods and so tells us how much vaguely how much demand there is for these certain goods. Investment is similar, except capital goods are bought instead of consumer. It is the most volatile component of AD, as it may rise by 60% on year, but fall by 20% the next year. Government spending does not include transfer payments or job seeker's allowance as they do not involve the government itself buying goods and services.Net exports add foreigners' spending on the country's goods and services and deduct spending by the country's population on imports. This component can be positive or negative. c) 3 determinants of Consumption (C):- - Real Disposable Income: main influence on consumer expenditure. The rich tend to spend more than the
Fiscal and monetary policy - a comparison
fiscal and monetary policy - comparison Introduction Fiscal policy should not be seen is isolation from monetary policy. For most of the last thirty years, the operation of fiscal and monetary policy was in the hands of just one person - the Chancellor of the Exchequer. However the degree of coordination the two policies often left a lot to be desired. Even though the BoE has operational independence that allows it to set interest rates, the decisions of the Monetary Policy Committee are taken in full knowledge of the Government's fiscal policy stance. Indeed the Treasury has a non-voting representative at MPC meetings. The government lets the MPC know of fiscal policy decisions that will appear in the annual budget. Impact on the Composition of Output Monetary policy is seen as something of a blunt policy instrument - affecting all sectors of the economy although in different ways and with a variable impact Fiscal policy changes can be targeted to affect certain groups (e.g. increases in means-tested benefits for low income households, reductions in the rate of corporation tax for small-medium sized enterprises, investment allowances for businesses in certain regions) Consider too the effects of using either monetary or fiscal policy to achieve a given increase in national income because actual GDP lies below potential GDP (i.e. there is a negative output gap)
Explain the possible impact of a world-wide recession on the components of the circular flow of income for a small and open economy such as Singapore.
Song Teck 023A 4a.) Explain the possible impact of a world-wide recession on the components of the circular flow of income for a small and open economy such as Singapore. [10m] The circular flow of income for an open economy is a model that shows the flows of goods and services and factors of productions between firms and household and in the process injections and withdrawals are made by the government and the rest of the world. This model shows that household provides the factors of production for firms who produce goods and services. In return the factors of production receive the factor payments (such as wages, dividend, and profits) which are in turn spent on the firm's output. The circular flow of income can be expanded by injections (addition to the circular flow which does not come from the domestic expenditure of the household in the form of investment, government expenditure, export revenue) and reduced by withdrawals (any part of income not passed on within circular flow of income in the form of savings, taxes, imports). Being a small and open economy, Singapore have place a strong emphasis on export orientated growth due to our small domestic market, thus resulting in a strong dependence on export revenue to sustain our economic growth. Moreover, with limited domestic investment and the openness to international capital flow, we are more dependent on foreign
