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17 Apr 2018

Discussion #3

The role of governments in the economy is one of the most debated issues in economics. Similarly, one of the most enduring debates of U.S. economic history focuses on the role of government in the economy. On the one hand, it is argued that government regulation of the economy is too little and too late. On the other hand, there is also a claim that the U.S. economy is no longer a free market due to too many regulations.

Moreover, the causes of economic and financial crises have been parts of the larger debate on the role of the government in the economy. Some argue that the accumulation of incorrect policies and lack of effective policies led to the recent and other economic and financial turmoil (crises). Accordingly, the failures of the main entities that manage our economy, which are the Congress, the executive branch of the Federal government represented by the Treasury Department, and the Federal Reserve System, lead to economic and financial crises. The other side claims that it

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18 Apr 2018

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Related questions

Question is this -How government intervenes in the economy from three perspectives: Fiscal, Monetary, and Supply Side efforts. You have also now looked at the criticisms of government involvement from the Classical perspective. Which approach makes the most sense to you?

Comment on this answer...

This is Answer-After learning about the classical economic viewpoint and the criticisms of government from it, I don't think there is one single approach that makes the most sense to me between fiscal, monetary, and supply-side policies. I think a minimal mix of the three is okay, and for each, they have their own given situations where they may work best in comparison to the others, or even work in conjunction with one another.

Increasing aggregate demand through fiscal policy may help the economy with unemployment and price levels, or it may hurt the economy instead and leave it in a worse state than it was previously found to be at. This could create artificial demand where there isn't true demand from the consumers. This could trick business and mess them up.

Controlling the supply of money through monetary policy may be helpful to the economy for taming inflation and keeping price stability. Controlling it too much could cause problems such as market unpredictability, which in turn could cause mixed results such as to scare people away or draw them into borrowing less or more money.

Increasing supply through supply-side policies may help the economy with unemployment and price levels. It could hurt people in ways such as people not receiving federal funding, or receive less of it (budget cuts in whatever that may be) due to tax cuts, exemptions, etc., from the government to businesses.

With these three perspectives in mind, I would prefer to see a more classical approach to economic situations. The perspectives of fiscal, monetary, and supply-side policy I think can each be helpful but would be best if they didn't have to be implemented in the first place. They have the potential to cause damage to the economy. After watching the classical economics video and reading the chapter, one thing that stood out to me and I think summarizes government involvement from a classical economists viewpoint is the government's role is like being the umpire in a baseball game. They should make sure everyone plays by the rules and only enters the game as a last resort. That approach makes sense to me.

Aggregate Demand, Aggregate Supply, and ModernMacroeconomics

1. A Keynesian economist would be most likely to agree with whichof the following statements?
A) Government policies do not affect economic activity.
B) Government can implementpolicy proposals that can positively impact the economy.
C) Most government policies would probably make things worse.
D) The economy ought to be left to market forces.

2. A Classical economist would be most likely to agree with whichof the following statements?
A) Government policies do not affect economic activity.
B) Government can implement policy proposals that can positivelyimpact the economy.
C) Most government policieswould probably make things worse.
D) Government intervention in the market is necessary for asmoothly operating economy.

3. What event shifted public opinion away from a laissez-faire viewof government towards a more activist view?
A) World War I.
B) The Great Depression.
C) World War II.
D) The Vietnam War and the social turbulence of the 1960s.

4. Classical economists argued that unemployment during theDepression could be reduced by:
A) Eliminating labor unions andgovernment policies that kept wages too high.
B) Strengthening unions and government regulations protectingunions and workers.
C) Increasing real wages so that people are encouraged towork.
D) Lowering taxes.


5. The level of income an economy can produce without generatinghigher inflation is called:
A) potential income. B)equilibrium income. C) nominal income. D) real income.

6. Keynes believed equilibrium income __________ potentialincome:
A) always equaled C) was always above
B) wasalways below D) could be above, below, or equalto

7. The aggregate demand, short-run aggregate supply, and long-runaggregate supply curves are based upon the:
A) principle of substitution.
B) principle of opportunity cost.
C) relationship between a single good and its price.
D) relationship between theprice level and total output.

8. For some time now, the U.S. has been pressuring Japan toinstitute policies to improve its weak economy. What effect wouldthese policies have on the U.S.?
A) They would cause the U.S. to move up its aggregate demandcurve.
B) They would cause the U.S. to move down its aggregate demandcurve.
C) They would shift the U.S.aggregate demand curve left.
D) They would shift the U.S. aggregate demand curve right.

9. If companies begin to expect an improvement in the businessclimate, this will cause:
A) a movement down the aggregate demand curve.
B) a movement up the aggregate demand curve.
C) a rightward shift of the aggregate demand curve.
D) a leftward shift of the aggregate demand curve.

10. The effect that a change in the distribution of income has onthe aggregate demand curve is based on the observation that:
A) workers are less likely than stockholders to save the incomethey receive.
B) stockholders are less likely than workers to save the incomethey receive.
C) workers and stockholders are equally likely to save the incomethey receive.
D) the distribution of income is always shifting in favor ofworkers.

11. If total income remains the same but wages fall, the aggregatedemand curve will most likely:

A) shift to the right. B) shift to the left. C) become flatter.D) become steeper.

Market Analysis Market Participants Market participants act as if they are rational, self-interested, and forward-looking. For example, financial managers try to maximize the present value of profits for their particular companies, rather than ignore future values. Companies pursue many goals, but it is a financial mistake for managers to pursue any goal that conflicts with the primary goal of maximizing their firm's profits. Decentralized decision making by individual market participants is more economically efficient that centralized decision making by government policymakers. For example, it is more economically efficient to have financial managers obtain financing for their particular companies than to have government obtain it. A high degree of competition among market participants is the most economically efficient disciplining mechanism. For example, highly competitive financial markets discipline financial managers to pay fair market interest rates on the debt securities issued by their particular companies. The market system of prices is the most economically efficient allocative mechanism. For example, it is more economically efficient to distribute a firm's corporate stock to those buyers who are willing and able to pay the market price of the stock than to have the government distribute the stock. It is economically efficient for market participants to buy low and sell high globally. For example, it is economically efficient for U.S. firms to sell their financial securities to the highest bidders, no matter where they live in the world economy. Market imperfections can create considerable risk to market participants. For example, because of market imperfections, firms operating in the international financial markets encounter foreign exchange rate risk, political risk, interest rate risk, and default risk. Consumer Sovereignty The principle of consumer sovereignty tells us that by making their dollar votes, consumers indirectly determine the quantity and quality of products that firms will produce. For example, it is not economically efficient for financial managers to obtain more financing for their particular firms than is needed for their firms to produce the profit-maximizing level of output demanded by consumers. Market Economy A highly competitive market economy is largely self-regulating, in the absence of substantial market imperfections, in that economic conditions cannot be substantially improved by government regulation or other types of government intervention beyond laissez-faire policies. For example, if a firm's corporate stock is overvalued by a market economy, market forces will tend to drive down the value of the stock to a market price at which it is neither overvalued nor undervalued. As if by an invisible hand, highly competitive market forces will tend to create a harmony of interests among individual market participants, in the absence of substantial market imperfections. Consequently, the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders are compatible. For example, in trying to maximize profits, firms produce employment, income, consumer products, and wealth for households, as well as tax revenue for government, which helps maximize consumer utility and maximize social welfare. In a market economy, resources, products, and assets flow to their highest valued uses among alternative uses. For example, the shares of firms' corporate stocks will be acquired by those market participants who most highly value them, as indicated by the fact that they are willing to pay the most to acquire them. The efficient economic role of government is limited to Laissez-Faire ("hands off") policies, which create very little intervention in a market economy. For example, government regulations of banking and securities industries to maintain healthy, reasonably profitable, consumer-oriented financial markets would not be needed in a highly competitive market economy in the absence of substantial market imperfections. In a market economy, it is economically efficient for each market participant to specialize according to comparative advantage in producing what they can produce relatively better than other market participants, rather than produce all the outputs they can produce absolutely better than others. For example, it is economically efficient for people who are relatively better at being financial managers than others, to specialize in financial management even if they are absolutely better than others in doing many other types of work. If all labor were allocated to its comparative advantage, then no possible reallocation of labor would exist that could increase the rate of return to labor (i.e., the wage). There is no such thing as a free lunch, because all resources, products, and assets in a market economy are scarce. For example, current federal government budget deficits are not free to current market participants in that the deficits must be financed by future tax increases and/or future decreases in government spending and/or future inflation. For additional information on the Market Economy click here. Marks, R. E. (2006, December). There Is No Such Thing As Free Lunch. Australian Journal of Management. 31(2). 1-7. Financial Decisions An efficient financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition is one that is optimal -- meaning best; it cannot be improved, from society's perspective. If there is some profitable way to improve some business practice that would benefit society, that practice is somewhat inefficient. Any change in a financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition that improves society is an efficiency improvement. For example, it is an efficiency improvement for a business to cut production costs by reducing waste (e.g., by reducing spending on unprofitable activity. A financial decision, practice, transaction, or condition is fair-- meaning just or equitable, if the financial benefits are distributed to those involved in proportion to how much they each voluntarily contributed to produce those benefits. For example, a financial practice that discriminates against some people on the basis of race, age, gender, nationality, or religion is unfair. For example, an unethical business practice is unfair. For additional information relating to Market Analysis and fair financial decisions, click on the following: Teaching Ethical Economic Practices to Business Managers. Johnston, C. (2009, October). The Proceedings of the Annual Conference of The International Academy of Business and Economics. Fairness is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition, for efficiency. All efficient financial practices are fair, but some fair practices may still fail to be efficient. For example, embezzling company funds is an unfair and inefficient, criminal financial activity. As another example, an ethical business practice that could be improved is fair but not efficient. Opportunity Cost Principle Opportunity cost principle: The efficient measure of the cost of any allocation of resources, products, money income, wealth, or time is its opportunity cost -- the value of the next best use. The opportunity cost of how one uses his or her resources is the value of the highest valued alternative use. The opportunity cost of one investment is the expected return on the next best investment available to the firm. For example, the opportunity cost of a firm using some of its profits to pay dividends to its stockholders would be the present value of future income those profits could have earned if invested in the firm's highest valued investment project.

Discussion Questions These questions stem from the Class Discussion Questions you will be anwering in the Discussion Board. Think about the questions and how they relate to the financial management principles above.

2. Applications: State the financial management principle that appears to be violated in each of the following cases and explain how it is violated:

(a) A corporation is maximizing sales growth and the price of its corporate stock is falling.

(b) A highly paid financial manager in the auto industry quit his job to set up his own small auto repair shop, which is expected to incur a loss for the first three years then earn normal profits.

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