Questions from Macroeconomics


Q: Why does a modern industrial economy need a central bank?

Why does a modern industrial economy need a central bank?

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Q: Explain why the quantity of bank reserves supplied normally is higher and

Explain why the quantity of bank reserves supplied normally is higher and the quantity of bank reserves demanded normally is lower at higher interest rates.

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Q: From September 2007 through December 2008, the Fed believed that interest

From September 2007 through December 2008, the Fed believed that interest rates needed to fall and took steps to reduce them, eventually cutting the federal funds rate from 5.25 percent to nearly zero...

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Q: Once the federal funds rate reached (approximately) zero, which

Once the federal funds rate reached (approximately) zero, which happened in December 2008, what options were still open to the Fed. What did it actually do? (Note: This may be a good question to discu...

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Q: Explain why both business investments and purchases of new homes rise when

Explain why both business investments and purchases of new homes rise when interest rates decline.

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Q: If you were watching house prices rise during the years 2000–

If you were watching house prices rise during the years 2000–2006, how might you have decided whether or not you were witnessing a “bubble”?

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Q: Explain why a mortgage-backed security becomes riskier when the values

Explain why a mortgage-backed security becomes riskier when the values of the underlying houses decline. What, as a result, happens to the price of the mortgage-backed security?

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Q: Explain how a collapse in house prices might lead to a recession

Explain how a collapse in house prices might lead to a recession.

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Q: Explain how a collapse of the economy’s credit-granting mechanisms might

Explain how a collapse of the economy’s credit-granting mechanisms might lead to a recession.

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Q: Explain the basic idea behind the TARP legislation. Was that idea

Explain the basic idea behind the TARP legislation. Was that idea carried out in practice?

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