Interpreting Investment-Specific Technology Shocks (IST)


Book Description

IST shocks are often interpreted as multi-factor productivity (MFP) shocks in a separate investment-producing sector. However, this interpretation is strictly valid only when some stringent conditions are satisfied. Some of these conditions are at odds with the data. Using a two-sector model whose calibration is based on the U.S. Input-Output Tables, the authors consider the implications of relaxing several of these conditions. They show how the effects of IST shocks in a one-sector model differ from those of MFP shocks to an investment-producing sector of a two-sector model. MFP shocks induce a positive short-run correlation between consumption and investment consistent with U.S. data, while IST shocks do not. Illus. This is a print on demand report.




Technology Shocks and Aggregate Fluctuations


Book Description

Our answer: Not so well. We reached that conclusion after reviewing recent research on the role of technology as a source of economic fluctuations. The bulk of the evidence suggests a limited role for aggregate technology shocks, pointing instead to demand factors as the main force behind the strong positive comovement between output and labor input measures.




The Measurement of Durable Goods Prices


Book Description

American business has recently been under fire, charged with inflated pricing and an inability to compete in the international marketplace. However, the evidence presented in this volume shows that the business community has been unfairly maligned—official measures of inflation and the standard of living have failed to account for progress in the quality of business equipment and consumer goods. Businesses have actually achieved higher productivity at lower prices, and new goods are lighter, faster, more energy efficient, and more reliable than their predecessors. Robert J. Gordon has written the first full-scale work to treat the extent of quality changes over the entire range of durable goods, from autos to aircraft, computers to compressors, from televisions to tractors. He combines and extends existing methods of measurement, drawing data from industry sources, Consumer Reports, and the venerable Sears catalog. Beyond his important finding that the American economy is more sound than officially recognized, Gordon provides a wealth of anecdotes tracing the postwar history of technological progress. Bolstering his argument that improved quality must be accurately measured, Gordon notes, for example, that today's mid-range personal computers outperform the multimillion-dollar mainframes of the 1970s. This remarkable book will be essential reading for economists and those in the business community.




Open Economy Macroeconomics


Book Description

A cutting-edge graduate-level textbook on the macroeconomics of international trade Combining theoretical models and data in ways unimaginable just a few years ago, open economy macroeconomics has experienced enormous growth over the past several decades. This rigorous and self-contained textbook brings graduate students, scholars, and policymakers to the research frontier and provides the tools and context necessary for new research and policy proposals. Martín Uribe and Stephanie Schmitt-Grohé factor in the discipline's latest developments, including major theoretical advances in incorporating financial and nominal frictions into microfounded dynamic models of the open economy, the availability of macro- and microdata for emerging and developed countries, and a revolution in the tools available to simulate and estimate dynamic stochastic models. The authors begin with a canonical general equilibrium model of an open economy and then build levels of complexity through the coverage of important topics such as international business-cycle analysis, financial frictions as drivers and transmitters of business cycles and global crises, sovereign default, pecuniary externalities, involuntary unemployment, optimal macroprudential policy, and the role of nominal rigidities in shaping optimal exchange-rate policy. Based on courses taught at several universities, Open Economy Macroeconomics is an essential resource for students, researchers, and practitioners. Detailed exploration of international business-cycle analysis Coverage of financial frictions as drivers and transmitters of business cycles and global crises Extensive investigation of nominal rigidities and their role in shaping optimal exchange-rate policy Other topics include fixed exchange-rate regimes, involuntary unemployment, optimal macroprudential policy, and sovereign default and debt sustainability Chapters include exercises and replication codes




Hysteresis and Business Cycles


Book Description

Traditionally, economic growth and business cycles have been treated independently. However, the dependence of GDP levels on its history of shocks, what economists refer to as “hysteresis,” argues for unifying the analysis of growth and cycles. In this paper, we review the recent empirical and theoretical literature that motivate this paradigm shift. The renewed interest in hysteresis has been sparked by the persistence of the Global Financial Crisis and fears of a slow recovery from the Covid-19 crisis. The findings of the recent literature have far-reaching conceptual and policy implications. In recessions, monetary and fiscal policies need to be more active to avoid the permanent scars of a downturn. And in good times, running a high-pressure economy could have permanent positive effects.




Frontiers of Business Cycle Research


Book Description

This introduction to modern business cycle theory uses a neoclassical growth framework to study the economic fluctuations associated with the business cycle. Presenting advances in dynamic economic theory and computational methods, it applies concepts to t







Consumer Durable Goods


Book Description

Consumer durable goods cover a wide range of sectors and subsectors in the Canadian economy. For the purposes of this discussion, consumer durable goods have been grouped to include the following selected categories: furniture and fixtures, hardware, sporting goods, and toys and games. Together, this group represents an important segment of the Canadian economy, employing 56, 000 people and exporting $2.3 billion worth of goods annually. This document presents statistical tables on industry and Uruguay Round.




Economics for Investment Decision Makers


Book Description

The economics background investors need to interpret global economic news distilled to the essential elements: A tool of choice for investment decision-makers. Written by a distinguished academics and practitioners selected and guided by CFA Institute, the world’s largest association of finance professionals, Economics for Investment Decision Makers is unique in presenting microeconomics and macroeconomics with relevance to investors and investment analysts constantly in mind. The selection of fundamental topics is comprehensive, while coverage of topics such as international trade, foreign exchange markets, and currency exchange rate forecasting reflects global perspectives of pressing investor importance. Concise, plain-English introduction useful to investors and investment analysts Relevant to security analysis, industry analysis, country analysis, portfolio management, and capital market strategy Understand economic news and what it means All concepts defined and simply explained, no prior background in economics assumed Abundant examples and illustrations Global markets perspective




NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1996


Book Description

This is the 11th volume in a series of annuals from the National Bureau of Economic Research that are designed to present, extend and apply work in macroeconomics, and to encourage and stimulate work by macroeconomists on policy issues. These contributions offer a sample of the issues and research directions in macroeconomics.