中级宏观经济学课件第2章2.ppt

* Note: Because the weights don’t all sum to 1, the CPI is a weighted sum, not a weighted average. * * * Be sure to point out that the data are the percentage changes, not the levels, of the CPI and the GDP deflator. In 1980, the CPI increased much faster than the GDP deflator. Ask students if they can offer a possible explanation. In 1955, the CPI showed slightly negative inflation, while the GDP deflator showed positive inflation. Ask students for possible explanations. (For possible answers, just refer to previous slide.) * * * source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. * * * * These are three of the most important economic statistics. Policymakers and businesspersons use them to monitor the economy and formulate appropriate policies. Economists use them to develop and test theories about how the economy works. Because we’ll be learning many of these theories, it’s worth spending some time now to really understand what these statistics mean, and how they are measured. * Most students, having taken principles of economics, will have seen this definition and be familiar with it. It’s not worth spending a lot of time on. It might be worthwhile, however, to briefly review the factors of production. * “Compute GDP” assuming, of course, that these are the only transactions in the economy. Lessons of this problem: GDP = value of final goods = sum of value at all stages of production We don’t include the value of intermediate goods in GDP because their value is already embodied in the value of the final goods. Answer: Each person’s value-added (VA) equals the value of what he/she produced minus the value of the intermediate inputs he/she started with. Farmer’s VA = $1 Miller’s VA = $3 Baker’s VA = $3 GDP = $6 Note that GDP = value of final good = sum of value-added at all stages of production. Even though this problem is highly simplified, its main lesson holds in the real world: the value of all final