EXCEL AND POWERPOINT RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT : DATA ANALYSIS PLEASE REFER TO PROMPT

The National Economy National Economy Issues  GDP  Calculated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)  Measures production of final goods and services each quarter.  C + I + G + NX  Revisions (Advanced, Second, and Third)  Only 50% of data is available on advanced report: uses extrapolation to complete data set.  Adjusts for Inflation: Chained vs. Nominal GDP  Does not measure the u nderground Economy  Can we measure such? Research methodology:  Surveys  Compare national expenditures in excess of national income.  Compare employed people exceeding the number of jobs in the economy.  Compare electricity usage in excess of that required for reported production.  Analyze money supply usage in excess of that required for reported production. National Economy Issues  Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI)  GDP does not make any subjective evaluations regarding the virtue or aesthetic qualities of production.  GDP measures value based on market prices only.  GPI Corrects GDP for environmental degradation, inequality, crime, loss of leisure time, public infrastructure, volunteer activities, and housework.  International Comparisons  Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)  When making international comparisons PPP adjusts currency values for the amount of goods a given unit of currency can buy.  Absent PPP adjustments China is ≈ 62% the size of the U.S (IMF 2017).  With PPP adjustments China is ≈ 120% the size of the U.S . (IMF 2017).  Growth Rates ?  For China, working backwards with growth rates, 1952 per capita income in China would have been $279, an unsustainably low figure.  Per Capita Income  Better gauge of standard of living than overall GDP. National Economy Issues  International Statistics  IMF Direction of Trade Statistics  High monthly volatility in export and import data.  Irreconcilable data sets  Global imports do not equal global exports.  Globalization  Sales data often inaccurately reflects where production takes place.  Assembling and sales often occur in different regions.  Labor Productivity  BLS  Typically measured as: output/labor hours  Problem: how to measure labor hours and output.  At -home work may overestimate productivity.  “inside the box” effect: inaccurately estimating quality changes in productivity.  Services are particularly difficult to quantify. National Economy Issues  Consumer Confidence  Leading indicator since economy weighted largely in consumer expenditures.  Conference Board  Michigan Survey of Consumers  Savings Rates  FRED  BEA  Why is it important:  Saving → Investment → Capital Formation → Economic Growth  Personal Savings is not the only type of savings (e.g. business retained earnings and foreign savings)  Some economists believe a genuine savings rate” should measure actual investment which would be closer to 20% of GDP.  Including durable consumption goods would take it to over 25%