ECON 162 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Opportunity Cost, Sport Utility Vehicle
Econ 162-A1, A2 Kenny Christianson
Fall 2015 due: September 11
PROBLEM SET NUMBER ONE
1. Please go to the following website to read President Obama’s remarks on the
economy at the University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse on July 2, 2015:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/02/remarks-president-economy-la-
crosse-wi
After reading the speech, answer the following questions:
a. How does President Obama characterize the current state of the United
States economy?
President Obama characterizes the current state of the United States economy as
growing. Throughout this speech Obama provides examples such as the decreasing
unemployment rate from 10% to 5.3% as well as the increase in wages and incomes
which shows that the US economy is currently growing. The economy cannot be
characterized as better because as Obama states there are areas of improvement such
as a method of clean energy but as shown by the evidence above as well as the health
care and tax improvements, the economy is heading in an upwards direction. Although
the economy is improving, Obama still states that because the current state is
constantly changing, the economy still needs help and we cannot give up.
b. What macroeconomic variables are included in the speech?
A macroeconomic variables included in the speech is the unemployment rate which
Obama states has decreased about 5% since the start of his presidency.
c. What specific proposals are offered to improve the U.S. economy?
Specific proposals offered to improve the US economy are to rewrite the rules of the
global economy before other countries, sell more goods made by the US in the US
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Econ 162-A1, A2 Fall 2015 2
(bipartisan bills), push for fair trade, raise the minimum wage, and financial aid for
college.
2. From the President’s speech in question 1), please find a
a. normative statement.
“And we need to keep churning out high-wage jobs for a better-trained workforce to
fill…”
b. positive statement.
“It’s going to give as many as 5 million Americans, including 80,000 folks right here in
Wisconsin, the overtime protections they deserve.”
c. macroeconomic statement.
“The unemployment rate is now down to 5.3 percent.”
d. microeconomic statement.
“And today, our high school graduation rate has hit an all-time high; more Americans
finish college than ever before.”
3. Please answer the following questions to the best of your abilities:
a. Do they have a Fourth of July in Britain?
Of course. You can not strip a country of the day between the third of July and the fifth
of July.
b. Some months have 31 days. How many months have 28 days?
All of them! February is not that special.
c. A woman gives a beggar fifty cents. The woman is the beggar’s sister, but the
beggar is not the woman’s brother. How come?
The beggar is not a man, she is also her sister.
d. Why can’t a man living in the United States be buried in Canada?
Because he is living, it is cruel burry someone alive.
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