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Why is it difficult for the federal government to increase or decrease spending?
A. Most government officials are reluctant to authorize any changes in spending.
B. 2/3 of all government spending is on entitlements, which the government cannot easily alter.
C. Taxpayers and citizens get upset when the government decides to stop paying for something.
D. Different states may have different goals, so they may not agree with the monetary changes.

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Divya Singh
Divya SinghLv10
20 Oct 2020

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1) If the economy was experiencing a severe recession, which of the following combinations of monetary and fiscal policy actions would be most appropriate?

a. a decrease in the reserve requirement coupled with an increase in taxes

b. the sale of government securities by the Fed coupled with an increase in the level of government spending.

c. the purchase of government securities by the Fed coupled with a decrease in the level of government spending.

d. the purchase of government securities by the Fed coupled with a tax reduction

e. an increase in the reserve requirement coupled with a tax reduction

f. the purchase of government securities by the Fed coupled with a tax increase

2) Many years ago, the traditional mortgage loan structure specified
A. a down payment of 20%.
B. an initial loan-to-value ratio of 100%.
C. a variable interest rate.
D. all of the above.

3) Unlike the traditional mortgage amortization schedule, "negative-amortization" mortgages permit the
A. mortgage payments to exceed the accrued interest during the early years of the mortgage.
B. principal payments to grow at a constant rate during the early years of the mortgage.
C. value of the house to depreciate during the early years of the mortgage.
D. outstanding balance to increase over a part of the life of the mortgage.

4) The traditional mortgage amortization schedule specifies a monthly payment that is
A. increasing over the life of the mortgage.
B. decreasing over the life of the mortgage.
C. constant over the life of the mortgage.
D. first increasing, then decreasing, over the life of the mortgage.

5) The "interest-only" mortgage typically converts later to a
A. traditional mortgage with a higher payment.
B. traditional mortgage with a lower payment.
C. "negative-amortization" mortgage with a lower payment.
D. "exotic" mortgage with a lower payment.

6) "Exotic" mortgages became popular in part because they allow someone of
A. means to get into a home they would easily have been able to afford.
B. modest means to get into a home they might otherwise not have been able to afford.
C. modest means to build more equity in their home than a traditional mortgage would allow.
D. modest means to build their credit score by proving they could make challenging payments.

7) Other things equal, increasing home prices tend to
A. force homeowners to spend less than they earn.
B. allow homeowners to spend more than they earn.
C. leave homeowners' ability to spend unaffected.
D. increase the likelihood that homeowners will default on their mortgages.

8) If homeowners purchased a $250,000 home with a zero-down, interest-only mortgage, and the value of the home subsequently fell to $200,000, in order to sell the house and move to another city, the homeowners would be required at closing to pay (in addition to the proceeds from the home sale)
A. nothing.
B. $50,000.
C. any transaction costs and real estate fees.
D. $50,000 plus any transaction costs and real estate fees.

9) Home price escalation in the U.S. during 2005 fueled booms in
A. Iraq and Afghanistan
B. stocks of dot com startups in Silicon Valley and U.S. government bonds
C. home building and home equity lines of credit
D. mortgage foreclosures and home demolition

10) The stimulus package proposed by the Bush Administration in early 2008 relied upon

A. a permanent increase in personal income tax rates
B. a temporary surtax added to existing personal income tax rates
C. making permanent the 2003 income tax rate cuts, as well as tax rebates to taxpayers
D. a requirement that any children claimed as dependents have social security numbers

11) The stimulus plan adopted in 2009 by newly-elected President Obama consisted of
A. only tax cuts
B. only spending increases on newly-created federal programs
C. only attempts to shore up Medicaid, welfare and unemployment programs
D. roughly equal tax cuts and spending increases, with additional spending to shore up existing federal programs

12) The main effect on the economy of the financial sector crisis in late 2008 was
A. reduced aggregate demand
B. increased aggregate demand
C. reduced aggregate supply
D. increased aggregate supply

13) If not corrected, the financial sector crisis of late 2008 would have tended to
A. increase both Real GDP and the general price level
B. increase Real GDP and lower the general price level
C. lower Real GDP and increase the general price level
D. lower both Real GDP and the general price level

14) Monetary policy designed to counteract a reduction in aggregate demand might include
A. a reduction in the money stock
B. a reduction in short-term interest rates
C. increased government infrastructure spending
D. an increase in individual income tax rates

1. Why Niall Ferguson thought that the expansionary fiscal policy (or government deficit) could produce crowding-out effect? You can explain by using the IS-LM model or you can use the logic of loanable funds theory

Answer: Ferguson believes that an increase in the government deficit could produce a crowding-out-effect. First, I will touch base on fiscal policy. Well, what is it? Basically, it adjusts the nation’s spending amount which increases the economy’s deficit to close a recessionary gap, which therefore increases the the demand for loans, meaning people want to borrow money. An increase in demand for loans leads to an increase in interest rates. Higher interest rates lead to a decrease in investment and interest-sensitive consumer spending, so both C and I decrease. That’s what the crowding-out-effect is, the decrease in investment due to higher interest rates.

>in Deficit = >in Demand for Loans = >in interest rates =

The government speeds up the economy by deficit spending, they crowd out consumers and investors with high interest rates. So what this means is that the government is attempting to help the economy but it is actually hurting the economy. The reason why I think Ferguson believes this is because of what he says in his debate at the New York Review of Books, that “you can’t be both a monetarist and a Keynesian simultaneously—at least I can’t see how you can, because if the aim of the monetarist policy is to keep interest rates down, to keep liquidity high, the effect of the Keynesian policy must be to drive interest rates up.” He continues on in the interview to say that the Fed has minted out a fresh $1.75 billion in bonds and that no one is going to buy them. Driving up bonds will increase interest rates which increases mortgage rates which is why he basically doesn’t agree with the Keynesian theory.

2. Why Paul Krugman thinks that Niall Ferguson was wrong and thought that government deficit could not produce a crowding-out effect? In other words, please explain Krugman's Liquidity trap .

Answer: To start I think Krugman believes that the Fiscal policy is effective. It is effective when the Liquidity-Money (LM) curve is horizontal. It creates the crowding in effect. The supply of money is constant so it creates money demanded to be interest inelastic, meaning it doesn’t change. So if the government wishes to stimulate the economy, it leaves interest rates at a constant rate, and an increase in investment and saving, therefore helping the economy close the gap on a recession. There is an indifference between money and bonds so this makes fiscal policy effective. So then we get into a monetary expansion, meaning we have an increase in the money supply. Well with the liquidity trap, we get the case that the investment-savings (IS) curve is horizontal. So when the government increases the money supply, investment responds to rapidly changing interest rates, which would decrease the money demanded, making monetary policy effective. But the liquidity trap becomes apparent because interest rates cannot fall below zero percent. This is when monetary policy would become ineffective because interest rates aren’t declining meaning investment wouldn’t continue. Krugman in his blog basically argues this. He states “Most spectacularly, IS-LM turns out to be very useful for thinking about extreme conditions like the present, in which private demand has fallen so far that the economy remains depressed even at a zero interest rate.” He sums up his argument for the liquidity trap and explains his logic behind the investment-savings, liquidity-money curve, and that is why he disagrees with Ferguson.

3. In the discussion, other discussants such as George Soros and Robin Wells pointed out some interesting issues. Please provide at least one thing that you agree and one thing that you disagree. Discuss in details why you think so.

Answer: One thing I found interesting was George Soro’s point in the debate in the New York review of books. He states “The other feature is that the financial system collapsed of its own weight. That contradicted the prevailing view about financial markets, namely that they tend toward equilibrium, and that equilibrium is disturbed by extraneous forces, outside shocks. Those disturbances were supposed to occur in a random fashion. Markets were seen basically as self-correcting. That paradigm has proven to be false. So we are dealing not only with the collapse of a financial system, but also with the collapse of a worldview.” He continues to mention how Obama has 2 problems he has to face and how people who are viewing this crisis the same as the previous financial crisis, are making a huge mistake. To explain he states this: “But when you have a collapse of credit there’s only one source of credit that is still credible, and that’s the state: the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. Then you have actually to inject a lot more leverage and money into the economy; you have to print money as fast as you can, expand the balance sheet of the Federal Reserve, increase the national debt. And that is, in fact, what has been done, which is the right thing to do. But then once this policy is successful, you have to rein in the money supply as fast as you can.” I think Soro is agreeing with Krugman and the monetary policy of pumping money into the economy. It will raise the money supply which eventually is left for us to capitalize on supply and let our GDP. Now I find this interesting because he is also agreeing with Krugman’s IS-LM model, and later on, we come to find out that even Ferguson had come to an agreement with Krugman’s points, with the exception being that the United States was a powerhouse, and therefore the European Union would eventually see its downfall.

Please make comments to the answer of discussion I provided above(at least 300 words total). And you can start with "I agree with you on some points... But I disagree with you on some points".

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