QUESTION 1 (THE INTEREST RATES) a) You are a senior financial analyst and have been asked to examine whether the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 affect financial and non-financial firms to the same extent? For the period beginning in 2006, plot the interest rates on three-month nonfinancial commercial paper (FRED code: CPN3M), three-month financial commercial paper (FRED code: CPF3M) and Treasury bills (FRED code: TB3MS). Compare the evolution of these interest rates. [4 marks] b) Market participants, including financial institutions, fund managers and corporations, must understand monetary policy setting impacts on economic activity and business cycle. A central bank will typically implement monetary policy settings in order to achieve certain economic outcomes over a business cycle. In order to forecast future economic conditions and business activity, business managers therefore need to understand the business cycle. Briefly describe the principal monetary policy objective of the Federal Reserve and give examples of different economic indicators that may give an insight into the future stages of a business cycle. [4 marks]