宏观经济学 第四章 中英双语版.ppt

* * First, note that the CPI has risen tremendously over the past 40 years. However, nominal wages have risen by a roughly similar magnitude. If the common misperception were true, then the real wage should show exactly the opposite behavior as the CPI. It doesn’t. The real wage is not constant - it varies within the range of $15 to $19 - but there is no downward trend in the real wage over the long term. Note: We wouldn’t expect the real wage to be constant over the long run – we would expect it to change in response to shifts in the labor supply and MPL curves. source: BLS Obtained from: /fred2/ * * * * * * In the 1970s, the income tax was not adjusted for inflation. There were a lot of people who received nominal salary increases large enough to push them into a higher tax bracket, but not large enough to prevent their real salaries from falling in the face of high inflation. This led to political pressure to index the income tax brackets. If inflation had been higher during 1995-2000, when lots of people were earning high capital gains, then there might have been more political pressure to index the capital gains tax. * Examples: Parents trying to decide how much to save for the future college expenses of their (now) young child. Thirty-somethings trying to decide how much to save for retirement. The CEO of a big corporation trying to decide whether to build a new factory, which will yield a revenue stream for 20 years or more. Your grandmother claiming that things were so much cheaper when she was your age. A silly digression: My grandmother often has these conversations with me, concluding that the dollar just isn’t worth what it was when she was young. I ask her “well, how much is a dollar worth today?”. She considers the question, and then offers her estimate: “About 60 cents.” I then offer her 60 cents for every dollar she has. She doesn’t accept the offer. :) * Ask students this rhetorical question: Would it upset you off