Web-Based Questions


1			FEELING WEALTHIER; SPENDING MORE? Access the Bureau of Economic Analysis Web site, http://www.bea.gov, interactively via the National Income and Product Account Tables. From Table 1.2 find the annual levels of real GDP and real consumption for 1996 and 1999. Did consumption increase more rapidly or less rapidly in percentage terms than real GDP? At http://dowjones.com in sequence select Dow Jones Industrial Average, Index Data, and Historical Values to find the level of the DJI on June 1, 1996, and June 1, 1999. What was the percentage change in the DJI over that period? How might that change help explain your findings about the growth of consumption versus real GDP between 1996 and 1999?




2			THE RECESSION OF 2001—WHICH COMPONENT OF AD DECLINED THE MOST? Use the interactive feature of the Bureau of Economic Analysis Web site, http://www.bea.gov, to access the National Income and Product Account Tables. From Table 1.2 find the levels of real GDP, personal consumption expenditures (C), gross private investment (I_g), net exports (X_n), and government consumption expenditures and gross investment (G) in the first and third quarters of 2001. By what percentage did real GDP decline over this period? Which of the four broad components of aggregate demand decreased by the largest percentage amount?