What effects will the following have on the equilibrium rate of interest? (You should consider which way the demand and/or supply curves of money shift.) (a) Banks find that they have a higher liquidity ratio than they need. (b) A rise in incomes. (c) A growing belief that interest rates will rise from their current level.
> Did the exchange rate difficulties experienced by countries under the ERM strengthen or weaken the arguments for progressing to a single European currency?
> What are the causes of exchange-rate volatility? Have these problems become greater or lesser in the past 15 years? Explain why.
> What adverse effects on the domestic economy may follow from (a) a depreciation of the exchange rate and (b) an appreciation of the exchange rate?
> Why may capital inflows damage the international competitiveness of a country's businesses?
> Consider the argument that in the modern world of large-scale short-term international financial movements, the ability of individual countries to affect their exchange rate is very limited.
> What is the relationship between the balance of payments and the rate of exchange?
> Assume that there is a free-floating exchange rate. Will the following cause the exchange rate to appreciate or depreciate? In each case you should consider whether there is a shift in the demand or supply curves of sterling (or both) and which way the c
> Who are the winners and losers from globalisation?
> To what extent can international negotiations over economic policy be seen as a game of strategy? Are there any parallels between the behaviour of countries and the behaviour of oligopolies?
> This question is concerned with the supply of oil for central heating. In each case consider whether there is a movement along the supply curve (and in which direction) or a shift in it (and whether left or right): (a) new oil fields start up in product
> What are the economic (as opposed to political) difficulties in achieving an international harmonisation of economic policies so as to avoid damaging currency fluctuations?
> Assume that just some of the members of a common market like the EU adopt full economic and monetary union, including a common currency. What are the advantages and disadvantages to those members joining the full EMU and to those not joining?
> The following are the items in the UK’s 2014 balance of payments: £ billions Exports of goods …………………………………………………………… 293.7 Imports of goods …………………………………………………………. 416.9 Exports of services ………………………………………………………. 219.7 Imports of services.……………….…………………
> If countries are so keen to reduce the barriers to trade, why do many countries frequently attempt to erect barriers?
> Go through each of the arguments for restricting trade and provide a counter-argument for not restricting trade.
> What is fallacious about the following two arguments? Is there any truth in either? (a) ‘Imports should be reduced because money is going abroad which would be better spent at home.’ (b) ‘We should protect our industries from being undercut by import
> Does the consumer in the importing country gain or lose from dumping? (Consider both the short run and the long run.)
> The following are four items that are traded internationally: wheat; computers; textiles; insurance. In which one of the four is each of the following most likely to have a comparative advantage: India; the UK; Canada; Japan? Give reasons for your answer
> Why doesn’t the USA specialise as much as General Motors or Texaco? Why doesn’t the UK specialise as much as Unilever? Is the answer to these questions similar to the answer to the questions, ‘Why doesn’t the USA specialise as much as Luxembourg?’ and ‘W
> How did the financial crisis of 2008/9 and the subsequent economic downturn affect the costs and benefits of the latest EU enlargement?
> Refer to the list of determinants of supply (see pages 000). For what reasons might (a) the supply of potatoes fall; (b) the supply of leather rise?
> Look through the costs and benefits that we identified from the single European market. Do the same costs and benefits arise from a substantially enlarged EU?
> Why is it difficult to estimate the magnitude of the benefits of completing the internal market of the EU?
> If rich countries stand to gain substantially from freer trade, why have they been so reluctant to reduce the levels of protection for agriculture?
> Imagine that two countries, Richland and Poorland, can produce just two goods, computers and coal. Assume that for a given amount of land and capital, the output of these two products requires the following constant amounts of labour: Assume that each
> Under what circumstances would adherence to an inflation target lead to (a) more stable interest rates, (b) less stable interest rates than pursuing discretionary demand management policy?
> What is meant by a Taylor rule? In what way is it a better rule for central banks to follow than one of adhering to a simple inflation target?
> To what extent did the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee and other central banks face a dilemma in 2008, when faced with rising inflation and the onset of recession?
> How does the Bank of England attempt to achieve the target rate of inflation of 2 per cent? What determines its likelihood of success in meeting the target?
> When the Bank of England announces that it is putting down interest rates, how will it achieve this, given that interest rates are determined by demand and supply?
> Why is it difficult to use fiscal policy to ‘fine tune’ the economy?
> Why are both the price elasticity of demand and the price elasticity of supply likely to be greater in the long run?
> Imagine you were called in by the government to advise on whether it should attempt to prevent cyclical fluctuations by the use of fiscal policy. What advice would you give and how would you justify the advice?
> Adam Smith, the founder of modern economics, remarked in The Wealth of Nations (1776) concerning the balancing of budgets, ‘What is prudence in the conduct of every private family can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom.’ What problems might there
> In what ways can interventionist industrial policy work with the market, rather than against it? What are the arguments for and against such policy?
> Imagine that you are asked to advise the government on ways of increasing investment in the economy. What advice would you give and why?
> What types of tax cuts are likely to create the greatest (a) incentives, (b) disincentives to effort?
> Define demand-side and supply-side policies. Are there any ways in which such policies are incompatible?
> ‘The existence of a budget deficit or a budget surplus tells us very little about the stance of fiscal policy.’ Explain and discuss.
> Imagine that the banking system receives additional deposits of £100 million and that all the individual banks wish to retain their current liquidity ratio of 20 per cent. (a) How much will banks choose to lend out initially? (b) What will happen to bank
> For what possible reasons may one country experience a persistently faster rate of economic growth than another?
> Why does a booming economy not carry on booming indefinitely. Why does an economy in recession pull out of that recession?
> Would a firm want demand for its brand to be more or less elastic? How might a firm achieve this?
> What factors could explain why some countries have a higher multiplier than others?
> In terms of the UK circular flow of income, are the following net injections, net withdrawals or neither? If there is uncertainty, explain your assumptions. (a) Firms are forced to take a cut in profits in order to give a pay rise. (b) Firms spend money
> The table shows index numbers for real GDP (national output) for various countries (2010  100). Using the formula G = (GDPt – GDPt–1)/GDPt–1  100 (where G is the
> Imagine that you had to determine whether a particular period of inflation was demand pull, or cost push, or a combination of the two. What information would you require in order to conduct your analysis?
> Under what circumstances will a reduction in unemployment by accompanied by (a) an increase in inflation; (b) a decrease in inflation? Explain your answer.
> Consider the most appropriate policy for tackling each of the different types of unemployment.
> What are the key macroeconomic objectives of government? Are there likely to be any conflicts between them?
> Using a demand and supply diagram, explain why carbon prices fell at the beginning of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), due to emissions allowances being too generous.
> Refer to the list of determinants of demand (see page 000). For what reasons might the demand for sofas from a particular outlet, such as DFS, fall? Is the slow recovery from recession relevant here?
> Compare and contrast the relative strengths and weaknesses of the partnership and the public limited company.
> Several friends go bowling several times per month. They keep track of their scores over several months. An ANOVA was performed. (a). What kind of ANOVA is this (one-factor, two-factor, etc.)? (b). How could you tell how many friends there were in th
> A company has several suppliers of office supplies. It receives several shipments each quarter from each supplier. The time (days) between order and delivery was recorded for several randomly chosen shipments from each supplier in each quarter, and an AN
> Air pollution (micrograms of particulate per ml of air) was measured along four freeways at each of five different times of day, with the results shown below. (a). What kind of ANOVA is this (one factor, two-factor, etc.)? (b). What is your conclusio
> Several friends go bowling several times per month. They keep track of their scores over several months. An ANOVA was performed. (a). What kind of ANOVA is this (one-factor, two-factor, etc.)? (b). How many friends were there? How many months were ob
> Here is an Excel ANOVA table for an experiment to assess the effects of ambient noise level and plant location on worker productivity. (a). What kind of ANOVA is this (one-factor, two-factor, two-factor replicated)? (b). Describe the original data fo
> (a) What kind of ANOVA is this (one-factor, two-factor, or two-factor with replication)? (b) Calculate each F test statistic. Calculate the p-value for each F test using Excel’s function =F.DIST.RT (F, DF1, DF2). (c) Interpret the res
> In a market research study, members of a consumer test panel are asked to rate the visual appeal (on a 1 to 10 scale) of the texture of dashboard plastic trim in a mockup of a new fuel cell car. The manufacturer is testing four finish textures. Panelists
> To assess the effects of instructor and student gender on student course scores, an experiment was conducted in 11 sections of managerial accounting classes ranging in size from 25 to 66 students. The factors were instructor gender (M, F) and student gen
> To check pain-relieving medications for potential side effects on blood pressure, it is decided to give equal doses of each of four medications to test subjects. To control for the potential effect of weight, subjects are classified by weight groups. Sub
> Random samples of tires being replaced by a car dealer showed the tire life (miles) below, based on whether or not the owner had checked once a month for recommended tire inflation. Use α = .05 in the following questions. (a). Are the po
> For a marketing class term project, Bob is investigating whether college seniors eat less frequently in fast-food chains than college freshmen. He asked 11 freshmen and 11 seniors to keep track of how many times they ate in a fast-food restaurant during
> The Fischer Theatre compared attendance at its Saturday and Sunday matinee performances of a major Broadway musical. At α = .05, is the Sunday matinee attendance significantly greater than the Saturday matinee? Date Sunday Saturday Oct
> Streeling University surveyed a random sample of employees to estimate the frequency of sexually inappropriate comments they had heard at work during the last month. 32 of 80 respondents said they had heard such comments. The survey was repeated after al
> A retailer compared the frequency of customer merchandise returns at two locations. Last month, store A had 57 returns on 760 purchases, while store B had 62 returns on 1,240 purchases. At α = .01, was the return rate significantly higher at store A?
> Students in nutrition classes at two high schools were asked to keep track of the number of times during the past month that they ordered from a fast-food chain restaurant. Sonando High School ………………………………………… Gedacht High School / = 14.51 ………………………………
> Male and female students in a finance class were asked how much their last tank of gas cost. Can you conclude that on average males spent more on gas than females? Males ………………………………………………………… Females / = $43.20 ………………………………….………… / = $36.60 s1 = $8.30
> Do positive emotions reduce susceptibility to colds? Healthy volunteers were divided into two groups based on their emotional profiles and each group was exposed to rhinovirus (the common cold). Of those who reported mostly positive emotions, 14 of 50 de
> Below are data on truck production (number of vehicles completed) during the second shift at five truck plants for each day in a randomly chosen week. Research question: Are the mean production rates the same by plant and by day? Trucks Produced dur
> Advertisers fear that users of DVD recorders will “fast forward” past commercials when they watch a recorded program. A leading British pay television company told their advertisers that this effect might be offset because DVD users watch more TV. A samp
> One group of accounting students used simulation programs, while another group received a tutorial. Scores on an exam were compared. (a). Construct a 90 percent confidence interval for the true difference in mean scores, explaining any assumptions tha
> Three samples of each of three types of PVC pipe of equal wall thickness are tested to failure under three temperature conditions, yielding the results shown below. Research questions: Is mean burst strength affected by temperature and/or by pipe type? I
> On a random basis, Bob buys a small take-out coffee from one of two restaurants. As a statistics project in the month of May, he measured the temperature of each cup immediately after purchase, using an analog cooking thermometer. Assuming equal variance
> As a volunteer for a consumer research group, LaShonda was assigned to analyze the freshness of three brands of tortilla chips. She examined four randomly chosen bags of chips for four brands of chips from three different stores. She recorded the number
> Is there a difference between the variance in ages for full-time seasonal employees and part-time seasonal employees at Vail Resorts? A sample of 62 full-time employees had an s12 = 265.69. A sample of 78 part-time employees had an s22 = 190.44. (a). T
> Rates of return (annualized) in two investment portfolios are compared over the last 12 quarters. They are considered similar in safety, but portfolio B is advertised as being “less volatile.” (a). At α
> A cognitive retraining clinic assists outpatient victims of head injury, anoxia, or other conditions that result in cognitive impairment. Each incoming patient is evaluated to establish an appropriate treatment program and estimated length of stay. To se
> Two labs produce 1280 3 1024 LCD displays. At random, records are examined for 12 independently chosen hours of production in each lab, and the number of bad pixels per thousand displays is recorded. (a). Assuming equal variances, at the .01 level of
> Nine homes are chosen at random from real estate listings in two suburban neighborhoods, and the square footage of each home is noted in the following table. At the .10 level of significance, is there a difference between the average sizes of homes in th
> A certain company will purchase the house of any employee who is transferred out of state and will handle all details of reselling the house. The purchase price is based on two assessments, one assessor being chosen by the employee and one by the company
> Concerned about graffiti, mayors of nine suburban communities instituted a citizen Community Watch program. (a). State the hypotheses to see whether the number of graffiti incidents declined. (b). Find the test statistic. (c). State the critical valu
> Emergency room arrivals in a large hospital showed the statistics below for 2 months. At α = .05, has the variance changed? Show all steps clearly, including an illustration of the decision rule. Statistic October November Mean arrival
> A ski company in Vail owns two ski shops, one on the west side and one on the east side of Vail. Ski hat sales data (in dollars) for a random sample of 5 Saturdays during the 2004 season showed the following results. Is there a significant difference in
> Researchers analyzed 12 samples of two kinds of Stella’s decaffeinated coffee. The caffeine in a cup of decaffeinated espresso had a mean of 9.4 mg with a standard deviation of 3.2 mg, while brewed decaffeinated coffee had a mean of 12.7 mg with a standa
> A ski company in Vail owns two ski shops, one on the west side and one on the east side of Vail. Is there a difference in daily average goggle sales between the two stores? Assume equal variances. (a). State the hypotheses for a two-tailed test. (b).
> In MiniCase 10.2, we found that the mean methane gas emissions for the two pneumatic controller manufacturers were not equal. When choosing formula 10.3 to calculate the t statistic, we assumed that their variances were not equal. Was this a valid assump
> Cash withdrawals from a college credit union for a random sample of 30 Fridays and 30 Mondays are shown. At α = .01, is there a difference in the mean withdrawal on Monday and Friday? (a). Make stacked dot plots of the data (a sketch is
> The average take-out order size for Ashoka Curry House restaurant is shown. Assuming equal variances, at α = .05, is there a significant difference in the order sizes? (a). State the hypotheses. (b). State the decision rule and sketch i
> Do male and female school superintendents earn the same pay? Salaries for 20 males and 17 females in a certain metropolitan area are shown below. At α 5= .01, were the mean superintendent salaries greater for men than for women? (a). Sta
> One group of accounting students took a distance learning class, while another group took the same course in a traditional classroom. At α = .10, is there a significant difference in the mean scores listed below? (a). State the hypothese
> In a 15-day survey of air pollution in two European capitals, the mean particulate count (micrograms per cubic meter) in Athens was 39.5 with a standard deviation of 3.75, while in London the mean was 31.5 with a standard deviation of 2.25. (a). Assumi
> Based on the sample data below, is the average Medicare spending in the northern region significantly less than the average spending in the southern region at the 1 percent level? (a). State the hypotheses and decision rule. (b). Find the test statis
> An experimental bumper was designed to reduce damage in low-speed collisions. This bump er was installed on an experimental group of vans in a large fleet, but not on a control group. At the end of a trial period, accident data showed 12 repair incidents
> From her firm’s computer telephone log, an executive found that the mean length of 64 telephone calls during July was 4.48 minutes with a standard deviation of 5.87 minutes. She vowed to make an effort to reduce the length of calls. The August phone log
> Are women’s feet getting bigger? Retailers in the last 20 years have had to increase their stock of larger sizes. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and Payless Shoe Source, Inc., have been aggressive in stocking larger sizes, and Nordstromâ&
> Has the cost to outsource a standard employee background check changed? A random sample of 10 companies in spring 2010 showed a sample average of $105 with a sample standard deviation equal to $32. A random sample of 10 different companies in spring 2012
> In 2009 Noodles & Company introduced spaghetti and meatballs to their menu. Before putting it on the menu, they performed taste tests to determine the best-tasting spaghetti sauce. In a paired comparison, 70 tasters were asked to rate their satisfaction
> Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney received a lot of publicity after his fourth heart attack. A portable defibrillator was surgically implanted in his chest to deliver an electric shock to restore his heart rhythm whenever another attack was threaten
