Saturday, April 11, 2015

2012 Macroeconomics Exam FRQ #2

2012 Macroeconomics Exam FRQ #2


Watch me answer it on youtube https://youtu.be/WPH4Pmot8aM


(a) What is the reserve requirement?

If demand deposits are $100,000 and required reserves are $10,000 we can assume that the reserve requirements are 10%.

Answer - One point is earned for calculating the correct reserve requirement of 10 percent
($10,000/$100,000). 

(b) Assume that Luis withdraws $5,000in cash from his checking account at Mi Tierra Bank.

(i) By how much will Mi Tierra Bank's reserves change based on Luis's withdrawal.

So, Luis deposited $100,000 into the bank, of which 10% is required by the Fed to be held as required reserves. The banks has loaned out $85,000 dollars of the amount Luis deposited into the bank, leaving $5,000 in cash on hand,, called excess reserves.

If Luis takes out $5,000 then reserves will decrease by $5,000.

Answer - One point is earned for stating that total bank reserves will decrease by $5,000 

(ii) What is the initial effect of the withdrawal on the M1 measure of money supply? Explain.

First, you must know what the M1 money supply actually is.. 
Monetary Policy Cheat Sheet

M1 is paper money, coins and checkable deposits,,, no matter if the money is in the bank as checkable deposits or in Luis's pocket as cash it doesn't effect the M1 money supply. I guess if Luis took the money and burned it,, then the M1 level of the money supply would have been changed.
Short of burning the money,, the M1 doesn't change from bank  (checkable deposits) to customer (cash).
Answer - One point is earned for stating that the $5,000 withdrawal has no effect on the M1 measure of the money supply because it only changes the composition of M1 between cash and demand deposits. 

(iii) As a result of the withdrawal, what is the new value of the excess reserves on the balance sheet of the Mi Tierra Bank, based on the reserve requirements from part (a).

This is tricky,, you must decrease the Demand deposits by the $5,000 and decrease excess reserves by $5,000 and then add back to excess reserves the amount $500 that doesn't need to be held in reserved requirements due to the $5,000 withdrawal.



Answer - One point is earned for stating that the new value of the excess reserves is $500. 









2012 Macroeconomics Exam FRQ #1

2012 Macroeconomics Exam FRQ #1




watch me answer it here


Watch me anser it here


(a) Assume that Rankinland produces only food and clothing. Draw a correctly labeled PPC for Rankinland. Show a point that could represent the current output combination and label it A.

Remember, Rankinland is in Recession,, so all resources are not being utilized. Again,, recession usually means higher unemployment,, so the point A on the PPC represents, (or can represent) unemployment.


(b) Assume that the Central Bank of Rankinland pursues an expansionary policy.

(i) Identify the OMO, Open Market Operation that the central bank would use.

Expansionary fiscal policy,,, the OMO the central bank would use is the buying of bonds. When bonds are bought,, cash flows into the economy. The money supply is increased and nominal interest rates fall,, as interest rates fall, consumption (C) and investment (I) increase and therefore aggregate demand (AD) increases.

Answer - the central bank will buy bonds

(ii) Draw a CLG of the money market graph and show the short-run effects of the expansionary monetary policy on the nominal interest rate.
CLG - Correctly Labeled Graph,, nominal interest rate on the vertical axis,, and quantity of money on the horizontal.. MS for money supply shifting right (with arrows) and a decreasing of the nominal interest rate (with arrows) and a downward sloping demand for money curve.

(iii) Assume no change in the price level, what happens to the real interest rate, as a result of the expansionary policy,, Explain...

NO Change in the Price Level



Ok,, so first,, if you have learned the graphs like I have,, then when AD increases then the PL Price Level increases also. But that is because I was taught the classical/monetarist graph that has an upward sloping aggregate supply curve.
As AD increases the PL rises.
This no price level change can (theoretically) happen if the recession is bad and we use the Keynesian aggregate supply curve.
The Keynesian AS curve is viewed as horizontal during a recession and therefore that AD can increase with no Price Level changes
So,, we have expansionary monetary policy with no PL change and we need to know what happens to the real interest rate.

Let us look at the cheat sheet.Monetary Policy Cheat Sheet


If we understand that when the Fed buys bonds the Nominal Interest rate will fall and that with no price level change the nominal interest rate is the real interest rate then the Real interest rate must fall also.


Answer - One point is earned for explaining that with the price level remaining constant, when the nominal interest rate falls, the real interest rate also falls

(iv) Given your answer to part (b)(iii) regarding the real interest rate, what happens to the real gross domestic product (GDP) in the short-run? Explain.


As we can see,, the AD curve in the short run will increase and the R-GDP will also increase because an increase in the money supply will cause nominal interest rates to fall,, the lower rates will entice people to consume (C) and invest (I) which increases the AD therefore increasing (in the short-run) the R-GDP.

Why in the short-run???,,, because in the long-run we can be sure that prices will rise and rising prices will cause the demand for money to rise,, this will cause the Nominal interest rates to rise and that will decrease consumption (C) and Investment (I) and a decreasing of AD..


Answer - One point is earned for stating that the real GDP will increase in the short run and explaining that investment or consumption increases, causing aggregate demand to increase. 

(c) Suppose Rankinland has a current account deficit. Rankinland's currency is called the Bera.

(i) What will initially happen to the current account deficit in Rankinland solely due to the change in real GDP from part (b) (iv). Explain.

First, you must know that a current account deficit is a situation where imports > exports. If there is more money being pumped into the economy by the central bank,, we can assume that more imports will be consumed. So the deficit will increase.

Answer - One point is earned for explaining that the increase in real GDP increases income, which causes imports to increase and net exports to decrease.

(ii) What will happen to the international value of the Bera solely due to the change in the R-GDP from part (b) (iv). Explain.

If there is an increase in the money supply and more citizens spend money on imports,, then goods will come into the country and Bera's will go out. An increasing supply of Bera's in the international market will decrease their value.

FOREX Cheat Sheet


an increasing level of imports will increase the supply of Bera in the FOREX market which will lower the value of the Bera.

Answer - One point is earned for explaining that the decline in the international value of the bera is due to an increase in the supply of the bera