[Related to the Economics in Practice on p. 181] At a June 2010 summit of the G-20, President Obama urged member nations to continue stimulus spending to maintain economic growth.

Obama successfully argued the same case at a summit in 2009, resulting in increased fiscal spending by the G-20 in both 2009 and 2010, but attitudes had changed by the June 2010 summit as many members were weighing fiscal austerity measures to counteract the previous spending increases. Do some research on the G-20 nations to see what happened to fiscal spending in these nations in 2011. In which nations did fiscal spending increase and in which did it decrease? What happened to the unemployment rates and GDP levels in these nations in 2011? Do you see any correlation between the change in fiscal spending and the changes in unemployment rates and GDP? Explain.