第1章节宏观经济学的科学2009课件.ppt

* This graph shows data on U.S. Gross Domestic Product. For now, it suffices for students to know that GDP is a measure of the economy’s total output and total income, and that the data in this chart have been adjusted to take out the effects of inflation. (In Chapter 2, students will learn the exact definition of GDP, how it’s measured, and how it’s corrected for inflation). There are two main points students should get from this graph. First, over the long run, there’s a clear upward trend. One of the most important issues in macroeconomics is understanding this long run growth: what determines how fast a country grows over the long run, how do government policies affect the growth rate, and how could we achieve faster growth? This topic is critical, because it’s very tightly linked to our standard of living. (continued next slide….) * 4 * Second, the economy doesn’t always grow smoothly: over the short run, the economy sometimes experiences periods of falling GDP, called recessions. What students see in this graph as little downward blips correspond to periods during which hundreds of thousands of workers lose their jobs. Periods of rising GDP are called “expansions.” In March 2001, the U.S. completed the longest expansion on record. When the economy is expanding, firms are producing more goods and services, and therefore hiring more workers. Consumer incomes are rising, and consumers are spending more. * 4 * * 4 * * 4 * 4 * 4 * 4 * * * Source: Barry Bluestone and Bennett Harrison, The Deindustrialization of America (New York: Basic Books, 1982), Chapter 3, cited in Robert J. Gordon, Macroeconomics, 4th edition (Boston: Little, Brown and Company), p.334. If you know of more recent estimates, please email me so I can update this slide!!! Thanks! (My email address is roncron@unlv.edu) It might be useful to briefly define the unemployment rate so that students will be able to understand this and the next few slides. * * Macroeco