Module 7. ECONOMIC GROWTH, GLOBAL POVERTY, & POLICY

1. How is "economic growth" measured?
2. List and describe three ways a government could promote long-term economic growth.
3. In what way is a college degree a form of capital?
4. Explain how higher saving leads to a higher standard of living. What might deter a policymaker from trying to raise the rate of saving?
5. Why would the elimination of a trade restriction, such as a tariff, lead to more rapid economic growth?
6. How does the rate of population growth influence the level of GDP per person?
7. What political and legal failures can impede a country's economic growth rate?
8. Why has China's economic growth rate risen dramatically over the last 35 years? (Name at least one cause.)
9. Which parts of the world have the highest and lowest GDP/capita?
10. What special challenges (name at least one) do the least developed countries have for achieving economic growth?

Module 8. THE MEASUREMENT & COST OF INFLATION

1. What is the CPI? What does the percentage change in the CPI measure?What does the "core CPI" measure?
2. Why might the consumer price index overstate changes in the cost of living?
3. Why have economists defined and used price indexes other than the CPI?
4. What does indexing mean?
5. What are the costs of inflation? Which of these do you think are the most important for the US economy?
6. If inflation is less than expected, who benefitsdebtors or creditors? Explain.
7. What is hyper-inflation, and what can cause it?

Module 9. UNEMPLOYMENT

1. How does the Bureau of Labor and Statistics compute the labor force and the unemployment rate?
2. How does the current U.S. unemployment rate compare with unemployment rates in other developed countries and unemployment rates from U.S. history?
3. Define the following causes of unemployment: frictional, structural, and cyclical. Which of these causes is more paramount during a severe recession?
4. How might governments reduce the amount of: 1) frictional and 2) structural unemployment?
5. Why do unemployment rates in European countries tend to be higher than in the U.S.?
6. Does (a) automation/new technologies or (b) immigration increase the unemployment rate? Why or why not?