Econ 346 - Chapter 1

4 aspects of macroeconomic analysis

1. Unemployment
2. Saving
3. Trade imbalances
4. Money and the price level

National income accounting

records all the expenditures that contribute to a country's income and output

balance of payments accounting

helps keep track of both changes in a country's indebtedness to foreigners and and the fortunes of its export and import-competing industries

GNP

the value of all FINAL goods and services produced by the country''f factors of production and sold on the market ina given time period (usually a year)

4 possible uses a country's output (GNP) is divided into

1. Investment
2. consumption
3. government purchases
4. Current account balance

National income

the income earned in that period by its factors of production

National Income

GNP - Depreciation + Unilateral transfers

Difference between GDP and GNP

GDP measures the volume of production within a country's borders whereas GNP equals GDP plus net receipts of factor income from ROW

Fundamental identity for closed economies

Y= C + I + G

Fundamental identity for open economies

Y = C + I + G + Exports - Imports

Current account balance

The difference between exports of goods and services AND imports of goods and services
CA + EX - IM

Current Account deficit

imports exceed exports

current account surplus

exports exceed imports

How can a country have a current account deficit?

It is only by borrowing abroad that a country can have a current account deficit (import more than it exports)

net international investment position (or IIP)

the difference between its claims on foreigners and its liabilities to them

National saving

the portion of output, Y, that is not devoted to household consumption, C, or government purchases, G. IN A CLOSED ECONOMY, NATIONAL SAVINGS ALWAYS EQUALS INVESTMENT

Savings in a closed economy

S = I

Savings in open economy

S = I + CA

Credit

Any transaction resulting in a receipt from foreigners is entered in the balance of payment account as credit

debit

Any transaction resulting in a payment to foreigners is entered as debit

types of international transactions

1. transactions that arise from the export or import of goods and services and therefore enter directly into the current account
2. Transactions that arise from the purchase or sale of financial assets
3. certain other activities resulting in transfer of

financial account

the financial account of the balance of payment records all international purchases or sales of financial assets

Capital account

Record of other activities resulting in transfers of wealth between countries

Simple rule of double entry bookkeeping

Every international transaction automatically enters the balance of payments twice, once as a credit and once as a debit

the fundamental Balance of Payments Identity

Current account + capital account = financial account

The balance of payments accounts divide exports and imports into what 3 categories?

1. goods trade: imports and exports of merchandise
2. services: items such as payments for legal assistance, tourists' expenditures and shipping fees
3. income: made up mostly of international interest and dividend payments and the earnings of domesticall

financial derivatives

class of assets that are more complicated and ordinary than stocks and bonds but have values that can depend on stock and bond values

Net errors and omissions

Happens due to data from different sources may differ in coverage accuracy and timing and the balance of payments account seldom balance in practice as they must in theory

Central Bank

the institution responsible for managing the supply of money eg. the federal reserve in the US

Official international reserves

foreign assets held by central banks as a cushion against national economic misfortune

official foreign exchange intervention

Central banks often buy or sell international reserves in private asset markets to affect macroeconomic conditions in their economies which are referred to as official foreign exchange intervention

Official settlements balance or "balance of payments

This balance is the sum of the current account and the capital account balance minus the non-reserve portion of the financial account balance, and it indicates the payments gap that official reserve transactions need to cover.