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Macroeconomics Canadian 3rd Edition Krugman Solutions Manual Full Chapter PDF
Macroeconomics Canadian 3rd Edition Krugman Solutions Manual Full Chapter PDF
Chapter 8 krugman 1
o Male—70, retired
o Female—68, worked 30 hours per week as a substitute middle school teacher
• The unemployment rate is an indicator of how easy it is for individuals to find a job. It also
indicates the potential for lost output, since GDP will generally fall when the unemployment rate
rises. This inverse relationship is illustrated in Figure 8(23)-5 of the text with a scatter plot of
historical data on the real GDP growth rate and the unemployment rate. As an exercise you could
have the students visit the Statistics Canada website to find unemployment rate data and growth
rate data for real GDP and ask them to recreate this diagram for some given date range.
• There are some limitations associated with the reported unemployment rate:
o It can overestimate the actual rate of unemployment because some people intentionally do
not take the first job they are offered but rather take additional time to search for a job.
o It can underestimate the actual rate of unemployment because discouraged workers cease
looking for a job and thus are no longer counted as unemployed, even though they would
really like to work.
o The unemployment rate can vary widely across age, gender, and racial groups.
These differences are not reflected in the most commonly reported overall unemployment rate.
These differences are illustrated in Figure 8-3 of the text.
Chapter 8 krugman 2
• Define the labor force participation rate and report the value for select years beginning in 1976
(http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&retrLang=eng&id=2820087&&pattern=&stB
yVal=1&p1=1&p2=31&tabMode=dataTable&csid=). Have students speculate about why the
value has changed over time. Next, have them think about whether the labor force participation
rate could increase over the next few years. What would have to happen to cause it to increase?
The Natural Rate of Unemployment
Creating Student Interest
• Ask students if they can think of different reasons people are unemployed. Some possible
responses include: people are just entering the labor force for the first time, they are reentering the
Chapter 8 krugman 3
labor force after taking time off to have a baby, they lost their job because the economy went into
a recession, or their job has been outsourced to India. Explain to students that economists
categorize unemployed persons according to the primary reason they do not have a job. These
categories include frictional unemployment, cyclical unemployment, and structural
unemployment.
• Use Handout 8(23)-2 to help students understand the different types of unemployment.
Chapter 8 krugman 4
• Ask students how they would feel if all prices in the economy doubled. Then ask them how they
would feel if all prices doubled and at the same time their wages doubled. Make sure they see that
if both doubled, their real wage would be the same. Make clear that the level of prices doesn’t
matter, but the rate of change in prices does.
• Explain why the rate of change in prices matters using the three types of inflation costs: shoe-
leather costs, menu costs, and unit-of-account costs. Also make clear that these are the overall
costs to the economy. As far as individuals are concerned, there is also a transfer from the “losers”
from inflation to the “winners” from inflation. Explain how borrowers gain from getting money
now, when it will buy more (before inflation) and paying it back later (after inflation), when it
won’t buy as much. Lenders, on the other hand, give the money when it will buy more and only
get it back after it won’t buy as much.
• Finally, make sure students understand that when inflation is expected, people will build that
expectation into their decisions. Lenders will charge higher nominal interest rates, workers will
require higher wages, and so on. If everyone correctly anticipates inflation, everyone builds in the
expected inflation correctly and there are no “winners” or “losers.” Only unanticipated inflation
will decrease real values (e.g., interest rates/wages).
Chapter Outline
Opening Example: The Bank of Canada (BOC) took extraordinary steps in the wake of the financial
crisis in 2007 to 2009, cutting the overnight rate to a historically low level and leaving it there for six years
before raising it in January 2015. The decision came after the Bank was convinced that the two primary
goals of macroeconomic policy—low unemployment and price stability—were sufficiently stable to allow
the increase.
Chapter 8 krugman 5
A. Defining and measuring unemployment
1. Employment is the number of people currently employed in the economy, either full
time or part time.
2. Unemployment is the number of people who are actively looking for work but aren’t
currently employed.
3. The labor force is equal to the sum of employment and unemployment.
4. The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the population 16 or older that is
in the labor force.
5. The unemployment rate is the percentage of the total number of people in the labor force
who are unemployed.
B. The significance of the unemployment rate
1. The unemployment rate can overstate the true level of unemployment because it is
normal for workers to spend some time searching for a job even when jobs are plentiful.
2. The unemployment rate can also understate the true level of unemployment because it
doesn’t include the number of discouraged workers, underemployed workers, or
marginally attached workers.
3. The unemployment rate can vary widely across different age, gender, and racial groups.
This is shown in Figure 8(23)-3 in the text.
C. Growth and unemployment
1. There is a strong inverse relationship between growth in real GDP and changes in the
unemployment rate. This inverse relationship is illustrated using actual data in Figure
8(23)-5 in the text.
Chapter 8 krugman 6
6. The minimum wage may be binding for less skilled workers. It affects the wages that
people are actually paid and can lead to structural unemployment.
7. By bargaining collectively, labor unions can often win higher wages from employers
than workers would have obtained by bargaining individually.
8. Efficiency wages are wages that employers set above the equilibrium wage rate as an
incentive for better employee performance.
9. Public policy designed to help workers who lose their jobs can have the side effect of
reducing a worker’s incentive to quickly find a new job.
D. The natural rate of unemployment
1. The natural rate of unemployment is the unemployment rate that arises from the effects
of frictional and structural unemployment.
2. Cyclical unemployment is the deviation of the actual rate of unemployment from the
natural rate of unemployment due to downturns in the business cycle.
E. Change in the natural rate of unemployment
1. Changes in labor force characteristics (such as the age of workers), changes in labor
market institutions (such as the increased number of temporary employment agencies),
and changes in government policies (such as a higher minimum wage) have an effect on
the natural rate of unemployment.
Economics in Action
Failure to Launch—This EIA discusses the employment experience of university graduates, from 1990–
2016.
Ask students the following questions:
Chapter 8 krugman 7
1. What was the unemployment rate among recent university graduates who are male following
the Great Recession? (Answer: The rate went above 10% after the Great Recession.)
2. How long did this above normal unemployment last? (Answer: The unemployment lasted well
after the recession, into 2016.)
Structural Unemployment in Spain—This EIA looks at the unemployment rate in Spain.
Ask students the following questions:
1. What was Spain’s unemployment rate at the height of the housing boom? (Answer: 8%, high
compared to Canada.)
2. What is Spain’s natural rate of unemployment? Why is it so high? (Answer: 15 to 17%, mostly
due to laws making firing workers difficult and labor unions.)
Israel’s Experience with Inflation—This EIA presents the example of inflation in Israel in the mid-1980s.
Ask students the following questions:
1. What is meant by the term “clean” inflation? (Answer: inflation without a concurrent war or
political instability.)
2. Give an example of each of the types of inflation costs during Israel’s mid-1980s inflation.
(Answer: shoe-leather costs: standing in line at the bank; menu costs: restaurants’ not listing
prices; unit-of-account costs: frequently changing store prices.)
Business Case
AskforTask—This business case discusses the rise in temporary employment, especially found in online
services that help match temporary workers with employers seeking temporary workers.
Web Resources
For Canadian data: The following websites provide information on unemployment and inflation:
The most recent unemployment rate data can be quickly accessed from Statistics Canada’s home page:
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html, under “Latest indicators”. The “Unemployment rate”
option there contains an excellent summary of the latest Labour Force Survey (LFS). There is a link there
to Labour Force Information (Cat. 71-001-XWE) that reports the results of the LFS.The Consumer price
index annual data goes back to 1914. This is available in CANSIM series V41693271 in Table 3260021.
This uses a 2011 basket and is normalized so that the value in 2002 is 100. The consumer price index
(monthly) for individual cities and provinces is found in CANSIM Table 3060020.
For United States’ data: the Bureau of Labor Statistics—https://www.bls.gov/. historical inflation data for
the United States—https://www.inflationdata.com/.
For European data—http://ec.europa.eu/Eurostat
Chapter 8 krugman 8
Handout 8-1
Date_________ Name____________________________ Class________ Professor________________
Numbers Game
Chapter 8 krugman 9
Answers:
Chapter 8 krugman 10
Handout 8-2
Date_________ Name____________________________ Class________ Professor________________
Name That Unemployment
Classify the people described in each of the following scenarios as either frictionally, structurally, or
cyclically unemployed.
1. Phil is currently unemployed because the tire factory where he used to work installed robots, which
replaced 500 laborers, including Phil.
2. Jessica is unemployed because she is in the process of reentering the labor force after taking time
off to have a baby.
3. Mary is unemployed because she lost her job at McDonald’s after the province increased the
minimum wage.
4. Barry is unemployed because he was laid off by the automobile factory when the economy entered
a severe, prolonged recession.
5. Sandy left her former job at an accounting firm a month ago. She is in the process of interviewing
for a similar position at six different accounting firms, although she has not yet accepted a job.
2. Describe four factors that can affect the natural rate of unemployment and indicate the
impact of each on the value of the natural rate of unemployment in an economy.
3. What can you deduce if the actual rate of unemployment exceeds the natural rate of
unemployment?
Chapter 8 krugman 11
Answers:
1. The natural rate of unemployment is the normal unemployment rate around which the actual
rate of unemployment fluctuates. It is measured as follows:
Natural rate of unemployment = Frictional unemployment rate +
Structural unemployment rate
2. Possible answers:
i. An increase in unemployment benefits can increase the natural rate of unemployment.
ii. An increase in the number of new workers in the labor force increases the natural rate
of unemployment.
iii. A decline in union membership decreases the natural rate of unemployment.
iv. An increase in labor productivity decreases the natural rate of unemployment.
3. If the actual rate of unemployment is greater than the natural rate of unemployment, then
some workers are cyclically unemployed and the economy may be in a recessionary phase of
the business cycle.
Chapter 8 krugman 12
Handout 8-3
Date_________ Name____________________________ Class________ Professor________________
Getting Real with Interest Rates
2. William wants to earn a real annual interest rate on his investment of at least 7%. If the annual
rate of inflation is 4%, what is the minimum nominal rate of interest William would be willing
to accept on his investment?
Chapter 8 krugman 13
Answers:
1. Samantha has not made a wise investment, as the real interest rate she is earning on this
investment is negative. The real interest rate Samantha is earning is computed as follows:
Chapter 8 krugman 14
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