1 Study Reading Between the Lines on pp. 546–547 and then answer the following questions. a What has happened to the real interest rate in the Eurozone economies between 1999 and 2002? b What is the effect of the rise in the real interest rate on the consumption function? c What is the effect of the rise in the real interest rate on the savings function? d What happened to consumer spending in the Netherlands and Portugal? e What is your prediction for the real rate of interest and consumer spending in 2004 for these two countries? f Use the links on Parkin Interactive to obtain data on real consumer spending growth in 2004 for Portugal and Netherlands and check your prediction.