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Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses

Preface

Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® CoursesPreface
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Table of contents
  1. Preface
  2. 1 Welcome to Economics!
    1. Introduction
    2. 1.1 What Is Economics, and Why Is It Important?
    3. 1.2 Microeconomics and Macroeconomics
    4. 1.3 How Economists Use Theories and Models to Understand Economic Issues
    5. 1.4 How Economies Can Be Organized: An Overview of Economic Systems
    6. Key Terms
    7. Key Concepts and Summary
    8. Self-Check Questions
    9. Review Questions
    10. Critical Thinking Questions
  3. 2 Choice in a World of Scarcity
    1. Introduction to Choice in a World of Scarcity
    2. 2.1 How Individuals Make Choices Based on Their Budget Constraint
    3. 2.2 The Production Possibilities Frontier and Social Choices
    4. 2.3 Confronting Objections to the Economic Approach
    5. Key Terms
    6. Key Concepts and Summary
    7. Self-Check Questions
    8. Review Questions
    9. Critical Thinking Questions
    10. Problems
  4. 3 Demand and Supply
    1. Introduction to Demand and Supply
    2. 3.1 Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium in Markets for Goods and Services
    3. 3.2 Shifts in Demand and Supply for Goods and Services
    4. 3.3 Changes in Equilibrium Price and Quantity: The Four-Step Process
    5. 3.4 Price Ceilings and Price Floors
    6. 3.5 Demand, Supply and Efficiency
    7. Key Terms
    8. Key Concepts and Summary
    9. Self-Check Questions
    10. Review Questions
    11. Critical Thinking Questions
    12. Problems
  5. 4 Labor and Financial Markets
    1. Introduction to Labor and Financial Markets
    2. 4.1 Demand and Supply at Work in Labor Markets
    3. 4.2 Demand and Supply in Financial Markets
    4. 4.3 The Market System as an Efficient Mechanism for Information
    5. Key Terms
    6. Key Concepts and Summary
    7. Self-Check Questions
    8. Review Questions
    9. Critical Thinking Questions
    10. Problems
  6. 5 The Macroeconomic Perspective
    1. Introduction to the Macroeconomic Perspective
    2. 5.1 Measuring the Size of the Economy: Gross Domestic Product
    3. 5.2 Adjusting Nominal Values to Real Values
    4. 5.3 Tracking Real GDP over Time
    5. 5.4 Comparing GDP among Countries
    6. 5.5 How Well GDP Measures the Well-Being of Society
    7. Key Terms
    8. Key Concepts and Summary
    9. Self-Check Questions
    10. Review Questions
    11. Critical Thinking Questions
    12. Problems
  7. 6 Economic Growth
    1. Introduction to Economic Growth
    2. 6.1 The Relatively Recent Arrival of Economic Growth
    3. 6.2 Labor Productivity and Economic Growth
    4. 6.3 Components of Economic Growth
    5. 6.4 Economic Convergence
    6. Key Terms
    7. Key Concepts and Summary
    8. Self-Check Questions
    9. Review Questions
    10. Critical Thinking Questions
    11. Problems
  8. 7 Unemployment
    1. Introduction to Unemployment
    2. 7.1 How the Unemployment Rate Is Defined and Computed
    3. 7.2 Patterns of Unemployment
    4. 7.3 What Causes Changes in Unemployment over the Short Run
    5. 7.4 What Causes Changes in Unemployment over the Long Run
    6. Key Terms
    7. Key Concepts and Summary
    8. Self-Check Questions
    9. Review Questions
    10. Critical Thinking Questions
    11. Problems
  9. 8 Inflation
    1. Introduction to Inflation
    2. 8.1 Tracking Inflation
    3. 8.2 How Changes in the Cost of Living Are Measured
    4. 8.3 How the U.S. and Other Countries Experience Inflation
    5. 8.4 The Confusion Over Inflation
    6. 8.5 Indexing and Its Limitations
    7. Key Terms
    8. Key Concepts and Summary
    9. Self-Check Questions
    10. Review Questions
    11. Critical Thinking Questions
    12. Problems
  10. 9 The International Trade and Capital Flows
    1. Introduction to the International Trade and Capital Flows
    2. 9.1 Measuring Trade Balances
    3. 9.2 Trade Balances in Historical and International Context
    4. 9.3 Trade Balances and Flows of Financial Capital
    5. 9.4 The National Saving and Investment Identity
    6. 9.5 The Pros and Cons of Trade Deficits and Surpluses
    7. 9.6 The Difference between Level of Trade and the Trade Balance
    8. Key Terms
    9. Key Concepts and Summary
    10. Self-Check Questions
    11. Review Questions
    12. Critical Thinking Questions
    13. Problems
  11. 10 The Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply Model
    1. Introduction to the Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply Model
    2. 10.1 Macroeconomic Perspectives on Demand and Supply
    3. 10.2 Building a Model of Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
    4. 10.3 Shifts in Aggregate Supply
    5. 10.4 Shifts in Aggregate Demand
    6. 10.5 How the AD/AS Model Incorporates Growth, Unemployment, and Inflation
    7. 10.6 Keynes’ Law and Say’s Law in the AD/AS Model
    8. Key Terms
    9. Key Concepts and Summary
    10. Self-Check Questions
    11. Review Questions
    12. Critical Thinking Questions
    13. Problems
  12. 11 The Keynesian Perspective
    1. Introduction to the Keynesian Perspective
    2. 11.1 Aggregate Demand in Keynesian Analysis
    3. 11.2 The Building Blocks of Keynesian Analysis
    4. 11.3 The Expenditure-Output (or Keynesian Cross) Model
    5. 11.4 The Phillips Curve
    6. 11.5 The Keynesian Perspective on Market Forces
    7. Key Terms
    8. Key Concepts and Summary
    9. Self-Check Questions
    10. Review Questions
    11. Critical Thinking Questions
  13. 12 The Neoclassical Perspective
    1. Introduction to the Neoclassical Perspective
    2. 12.1 The Building Blocks of Neoclassical Analysis
    3. 12.2 The Policy Implications of the Neoclassical Perspective
    4. 12.3 Balancing Keynesian and Neoclassical Models
    5. Key Terms
    6. Key Concepts and Summary
    7. Self-Check Questions
    8. Review Questions
    9. Critical Thinking Questions
    10. Problems
  14. 13 Money and Banking
    1. Introduction to Money and Banking
    2. 13.1 Defining Money by Its Functions
    3. 13.2 Measuring Money: Currency, M1, and M2
    4. 13.3 The Role of Banks
    5. 13.4 How Banks Create Money
    6. Key Terms
    7. Key Concepts and Summary
    8. Self-Check Questions
    9. Review Questions
    10. Critical Thinking Questions
    11. Problems
  15. 14 Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation
    1. Introduction to Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation
    2. 14.1 The Federal Reserve Banking System and Central Banks
    3. 14.2 Bank Regulation
    4. 14.3 How a Central Bank Executes Monetary Policy
    5. 14.4 Monetary Policy and Economic Outcomes
    6. 14.5 Pitfalls for Monetary Policy
    7. Key Terms
    8. Key Concepts and Summary
    9. Self-Check Questions
    10. Review Questions
    11. Critical Thinking Questions
    12. Problems
  16. 15 Exchange Rates and International Capital Flows
    1. Introduction to Exchange Rates and International Capital Flows
    2. 15.1 How the Foreign Exchange Market Works
    3. 15.2 Demand and Supply Shifts in Foreign Exchange Markets
    4. 15.3 Macroeconomic Effects of Exchange Rates
    5. 15.4 Exchange Rate Policies
    6. Key Terms
    7. Key Concepts and Summary
    8. Self-Check Questions
    9. Review Questions
    10. Critical Thinking Questions
    11. Problems
  17. 16 Government Budgets and Fiscal Policy
    1. Introduction to Government Budgets and Fiscal Policy
    2. 16.1 Government Spending
    3. 16.2 Taxation
    4. 16.3 Federal Deficits and the National Debt
    5. 16.4 Using Fiscal Policy to Fight Recession, Unemployment, and Inflation
    6. 16.5 Automatic Stabilizers
    7. 16.6 Practical Problems with Discretionary Fiscal Policy
    8. 16.7 The Question of a Balanced Budget
    9. Key Terms
    10. Key Concepts and Summary
    11. Self-Check Questions
    12. Review Questions
    13. Critical Thinking Questions
    14. Problems
  18. 17 The Impacts of Government Borrowing
    1. Introduction to the Impacts of Government Borrowing
    2. 17.1 How Government Borrowing Affects Investment and the Trade Balance
    3. 17.2 Fiscal Policy, Investment, and Economic Growth
    4. 17.3 How Government Borrowing Affects Private Saving
    5. 17.4 Fiscal Policy and the Trade Balance
    6. Key Terms
    7. Key Concepts and Summary
    8. Self-Check Questions
    9. Review Questions
    10. Critical Thinking Questions
    11. Problems
  19. 18 Macroeconomic Policy Around the World
    1. Introduction to Macroeconomic Policy around the World
    2. 18.1 The Diversity of Countries and Economies across the World
    3. 18.2 Improving Countries’ Standards of Living
    4. 18.3 Causes of Unemployment around the World
    5. 18.4 Causes of Inflation in Various Countries and Regions
    6. 18.5 Balance of Trade Concerns
    7. Key Terms
    8. Key Concepts and Summary
    9. Self-Check Questions
    10. Review Questions
    11. Critical Thinking Questions
    12. Problems
  20. A | The Use of Mathematics in Principles of Economics
  21. B | Indifference Curves
  22. C | Present Discounted Value
  23. Answer Key
    1. Chapter 1
    2. Chapter 2
    3. Chapter 3
    4. Chapter 4
    5. Chapter 5
    6. Chapter 6
    7. Chapter 7
    8. Chapter 8
    9. Chapter 9
    10. Chapter 10
    11. Chapter 11
    12. Chapter 12
    13. Chapter 13
    14. Chapter 14
    15. Chapter 15
    16. Chapter 16
    17. Chapter 17
    18. Chapter 18
  24. References
  25. Index

Welcome to Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses, an OpenStax resource. This textbook has been created with several goals in mind: accessibility, customization, and student engagement—all while encouraging students toward high levels of academic scholarship. Instructors and students alike will find that this textbook offers a strong foundation in macroeconomics in an accessible format.

About OpenStax

OpenStax is a non-profit organization committed to improving student access to quality learning materials. Our free textbooks go through a rigorous editorial publishing process. Our texts are developed and peer-reviewed by educators to ensure they are readable, accurate, and meet the scope and sequence requirements of today’s college courses. Unlike traditional textbooks, OpenStax resources live online and are owned by the community of educators using them. Through our partnerships with companies and foundations committed to reducing costs for students, OpenStax is working to improve access to higher education for all. OpenStax is an initiative of Rice University and is made possible through the generous support of several philanthropic foundations.

About OpenStax’s Resources

OpenStax resources provide quality academic instruction. Three key features set our materials apart from others: they can be customized by instructors for each class, they are a "living" resource that grows online through contributions from science educators, and they are available free or for minimal cost.

Customization

OpenStax learning resources are designed to be customized for each course. Our textbooks provide a solid foundation on which instructors can build, and our resources are conceived and written with flexibility in mind. Instructors can select the sections most relevant to their curricula and create a textbook that speaks directly to the needs of their classes and student body. Teachers are encouraged to expand on existing examples by adding unique context via geographically localized applications and topical connections.

Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses can be easily customized using our online platform (http://cnx.org/content/col11626/). Simply select the content most relevant to your current semester and create a textbook that speaks directly to the needs of your class. Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses is organized as a collection of sections that can be rearranged, modified, and enhanced through localized examples or to incorporate a specific theme of your course. This customization feature will ensure that your textbook truly reflects the goals of your course.

Curation

To broaden access and encourage community curation, Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses is “open source” licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license. The economics community is invited to submit examples, emerging research, and other feedback to enhance and strengthen the material and keep it current and relevant for today’s students.

Cost

Our textbooks are available for free online, and in low-cost print and e-book editions.

About Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses

Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses has been developed to meet the scope and sequence of most introductory macroeconomics courses. At the same time, the book includes a number of innovative features designed to enhance student learning. Instructors can also customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom.

Coverage and Scope

To develop Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses, we acquired the rights to Timothy Taylor’s second edition of Principles of Economics and solicited ideas from economics instructors at all levels of higher education, from community colleges to Ph.D.-granting universities. They told us about their courses, students, challenges, resources, and how a textbook can best meet their and their students’ needs.

The result is a book that covers the breadth of economics topics and also provides the necessary depth to ensure the course is manageable for instructors and students alike. And to make it more applied, we have incorporated many current topics. We hope students will be interested to know just how far-reaching the recent recession was (and still is). The housing bubble and housing crisis, Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation, global unemployment, and the appointment of the United States’ first female Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, are just a few of the other important topics covered.

The pedagogical choices, chapter arrangements, and learning objective fulfillment were developed and vetted with feedback from educators dedicated to the project. They thoroughly read the material and offered critical and detailed commentary. The outcome is a balanced approach to macroeconomics, to both Keynesian and classical views, and to the theory and application of economics concepts. New 2015 data are incorporated for topics, such as the average U.S. household consumption in Chapter 2. Current events are treated in a politically-balanced way as well.

The book is organized into seven main parts:

  • What is Economics? The first two chapters introduce students to the study of economics with a focus on making choices in a world of scarce resources.
  • Supply and Demand, Chapters 3 and 4, introduces and explains the first analytical model in economics: supply, demand, and equilibrium, before showing applications in the markets for labor and finance.
  • Elasticity and Price, Chapter 5, introduces and explains elasticity and price, two key concepts in economics.
  • The Macroeconomic Perspective and Goals, Chapters 6 through 10, introduces a number of key concepts in macro: economic growth, unemployment and inflation, and international trade and capital flows.
  • A Framework for Macroeconomic Analysis, Chapters 11 through 13, introduces the principal analytic model in macro, namely the Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply Model. The model is then applied to the Keynesian and Neoclassical perspectives. The Expenditure/Output model is fully explained in a stand-alone appendix.
  • Monetary and Fiscal Policy, Chapters 14 through 18, explains the role of money and the banking system, as well as monetary policy and financial regulation. Then the discussion switches to government deficits and fiscal policy.
  • International Economics, Chapters 19 through 21, the final part of the text, introduces the international dimensions of economics, including international trade and protectionism.

Chapter 1 Welcome to Economics!
 Chapter 2 Choice in a World of Scarcity
 Chapter 3 Demand and Supply
 Chapter 4 Labor and Financial Markets
 Chapter 5 Elasticity
 Chapter 6 The Macroeconomic Perspective
 Chapter 7 Economic Growth
 Chapter 8 Unemployment
 Chapter 9 Inflation
 Chapter 10 The International Trade and Capital Flows
 Chapter 11 The Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply Model
 Chapter 12 The Keynesian Perspective
 Chapter 13 The Neoclassical Perspective
 Chapter 14 Money and Banking
 Chapter 15 Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation
 Chapter 16 Exchange Rates and International Capital Flows
 Chapter 17 Government Budgets and Fiscal Policy
 Chapter 18 The Impacts of Government Borrowing
 Chapter 19 Macroeconomic Policy Around the World
 Chapter 20 International Trade
 Chapter 21 Globalization and Protectionism
Appendix A The Use of Mathematics in Principles of Economics

Alternate Sequencing Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses was conceived and written to fit a particular topical sequence, but it can be used flexibly to accommodate other course structures. One such potential structure, which will fit reasonably well with the textbook content, is provided. Please consider, however, that the chapters were not written to be completely independent, and that the proposed alternate sequence should be carefully considered for student preparation and textual consistency.

Chapter 1 Welcome to Economics!
 Chapter 2 Choice in a World of Scarcity
 Chapter 3 Demand and Supply
 Chapter 4 Labor and Financial Markets
 Chapter 5 Elasticity
 Chapter 20 International Trade
 Chapter 6 The Macroeconomic Perspective
 Chapter 7 Economic Growth
 Chapter 8 Unemployment
 Chapter 9 Inflation
 Chapter 10 The International Trade and Capital Flows
 Chapter 12 The Keynesian Perspective
 Chapter 13 The Neoclassical Perspective
 Chapter 14 Money and Banking
 Chapter 15 Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation
 Chapter 16 Exchange Rates and International Capital Flows
 Chapter 17 Government Budgets and Fiscal Policy
 Chapter 11 The Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply Model
 Chapter 18 The Impacts of Government Borrowing
 Chapter 19 Macroeconomic Policy Around the World
 Chapter 21 Globalization and Protectionism
Appendix A The Use of Mathematics in Principles of Economics

Pedagogical Foundation

Throughout the OpenStax version of Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses, you will find new features that engage the students in economic inquiry by taking selected topics a step further. Our features include:

  • Bring It Home: This added feature is a brief case study, specific to each chapter, which connects the chapter’s main topic to the real word. It is broken up into two parts: the first at the beginning of the chapter (in the Intro module) and the second at chapter’s end, when students have learned what’s necessary to understand the case and “bring home” the chapter’s core concepts.
  • Work It Out: This added feature asks students to work through a generally analytical or computational problem, and guides them step-by-step to find out how its solution is derived.
  • Clear It Up: This boxed feature, which includes pre-existing features from Taylor’s text, addresses common student misconceptions about the content. Clear It Ups are usually deeper explanations of something in the main body of the text. Each CIU starts with a question. The rest of the feature explains the answer.
  • Link It Up: This added feature is a very brief introduction to a website that is pertinent to students’ understanding and enjoyment of the topic at hand.

Questions for Each Level of Learning

The OpenStax version of Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses further expands on Taylor’s original end of chapter materials by offering four types of end-of-module questions for students.

  • Self-Checks: Are analytical self-assessment questions that appear at the end of each module. They “click–to-reveal” an answer in the web view so students can check their understanding before moving on to the next module. Self-Check questions are not simple look-up questions. They push the student to think a bit beyond what is said in the text. Self-Check questions are designed for formative (rather than summative) assessment. The questions and answers are explained so that students feel like they are being walked through the problem.
  • Review Questions: Have been retained from Taylor’s version, and are simple recall questions from the chapter and are in open-response format (not multiple choice or true/false). The answers can be looked up in the text.
  • Critical Thinking Questions: Are new higher-level, conceptual questions that ask students to demonstrate their understanding by applying what they have learned in different contexts. They ask for outside-the-box thinking, for reasoning about the concepts. They push the student to places they wouldn’t have thought of going themselves.
  • Problems: Are exercises that give students additional practice working with the analytic and computational concepts in the module.

Updated Art

Principles of Macroeconomics for AP® Courses includes an updated art program to better inform today’s student, providing the latest data on covered topics.

U.S. Minimum Wage and Inflation
sample image
After adjusting for inflation, the federal minimum wage dropped more than 30 percent from 1967 to 2010, even though the nominal figure climbed from $1.40 to $7.25 per hour. Increases in the minimum wage in 2007, 2008, and 2009 kept the decline from being worse—as it would have been if the wage had remained the same as it did from 1997 through 2006. (Sources: http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/chart.htm; http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?cu)

About Our Team

Senior Contributing Author

Timothy Taylor, Macalester College
 Timothy Taylor has been writing and teaching about economics for 30 years, and is the Managing Editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, a post he’s held since 1986. He has been a lecturer for The Teaching Company, the University of Minnesota, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, where students voted him Teacher of the Year in 1997. His writings include numerous pieces for journals such as the Milken Institute Review and The Public Interest, and he has been an editor on many projects, most notably for the Brookings Institution and the World Bank, where he was Chief Outside Editor for the World Development Report 1999/2000, Entering the 21st Century: The Changing Development Landscape. He also blogs four to five times per week at http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com. Timothy Taylor lives near Minneapolis with his wife Kimberley and their three children.

Senior Content Expert

Steven A. Greenlaw, University of Mary Washington
 Steven Greenlaw has been teaching principles of economics for more than 30 years. In 1999, he received the Grellet C. Simpson Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Mary Washington. He is the author of Doing Economics: A Guide to Doing and Understanding Economic Research, as well as a variety of articles on economics pedagogy and instructional technology, published in the Journal of Economic Education, the International Review of Economic Education, and other outlets. He wrote the module on Quantitative Writing for Starting Point: Teaching and Learning Economics, the web portal on best practices in teaching economics. Steven Greenlaw lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Kathy and their three children.

Senior Contributors

Eric Dodge, Hanover College
Cynthia Gamez, University of Texas at El Paso
Andres Jauregui, Columbus State University
Diane Keenan, Cerritos College
Dan MacDonald, California State University San Bernardino
Amyaz Moledina, The College of Wooster
Craig Richardson, Winston-Salem State University
David Shapiro, Pennsylvania State University
Ralph Sonenshine, American University

Reviewers

Bryan Aguiar, Northwest Arkansas Community College
Basil Al Hashimi, Mesa Community College
Emil Berendt, Mount St. Mary's University
Zena Buser, Adams State University
Douglas Campbell, The University of Memphis
Sanjukta Chaudhuri, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
Xueyu Cheng, Alabama State University
Robert Cunningham, Alma College
Rosa Lea Danielson, College of DuPage
Steven Deloach, Elon University
Michael Enz, Framingham State University
Debbie Evercloud, University of Colorado Denver
Reza Ghorashi, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Robert Gillette, University of Kentucky
Shaomin Huang, Lewis-Clark State College
George Jones, University of Wisconsin-Rock County
Charles Kroncke, College of Mount St. Joseph
Teresa Laughlin, Palomar Community College
Carlos Liard-Muriente, Central Connecticut State University
Heather Luea, Kansas State University
Steven Lugauer, University of Notre Dame
William Mosher, Nashua Community College
Michael Netta, Hudson County Community College
Nick Noble, Miami University
Joe Nowakowski, Muskingum University
Shawn Osell, University of Wisconsin, Superior
Mark Owens, Middle Tennessee State University
Sonia Pereira, Barnard College
Jennifer Platania, Elon University
Robert Rycroft, University of Mary Washington
Adrienne Sachse, Florida State College at Jacksonville
Hans Schumann, Texas AM
Gina Shamshak, Goucher College
Chris Warburton, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY
Mark Witte, Northwestern

Ancillaries

OpenStax projects offer an array of ancillaries for students and instructors. Please visit http://openstaxcollege.org and view the learning resources for this title.

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