Web-based Questions


1			The Beige Book and current consumer spending Go to the Federal Reserve Web site, www.federalreserve.gov, and select "About the Fed," then "The Federal Reserve System," and then "Districts and Banks." Find your Federal Reserve District. Next, return to the Fed home page and select "Monetary Policy," then "Reports," and then "Beige Book." What is the Beige Book? Locate the current Beige Book report and compare consumer spending for the entire U.S. economy with consumer spending in your Federal Reserve District. What are the economic strengths and weaknesses in both? Are retailers reporting that recent sales have met their expectations? What are their expectations for the future?




2			Investment instability—Changes in real private nonresidential fixed investment The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides data for real private nonresidential fixed investment in table form at www.bea.gov. Access the BEA interactively by first clicking on "National," then "Interactive Tables: GDP and the National Income and Product Accounts Tables," and then "Choose a table from a list of All NIPA Tables." Scroll down until you find Table 5.3.5, "Nonresidential." Has recent real private nonresidential fixed investment been volatile (as measured by percentage change from previous quarters)? Which is the largest component of this type of investment, (a) structures or (b) equipment and software? Which of these two components has been more volatile? How do recent quarterly percentage changes compare with the previous years' changes? Looking at the investment data, what investment forecast would you make for the upcoming year?

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