Week 2 Discussion 1 & 2

Week 2 - Discussion Forum 2

Required Resources

Texts

Gwartney, J. A., Stroup, R. L., Sobel, R. L., & Macpherson, D. A. (2018). Macroeconomics: Private and public choice (16th ed.). Retrieved from https://www.cengage.com

· Chapter 5: Difficult Cases for the Market, and the Roles of Government

· Chapter 6: The Economics of Political Action

· Chapter 7: Taking the Nation’s Economic Pulse

· Chapter 8: Economic Fluctuations, Unemployment, and Inflation

Tamny, J. (2015). Popular economics: What the Rolling Stones, Downton Abbey, and LeBron James can teach you about economics. Retrieved from https://www.redshelf.com

· Chapter 3: Government Spending Did Not Create the Internet, and Have Never Created a Job

Multimedia

PragerU. (2016, August 8). Can the government run the economy? (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.prageru.com/video/can-the-government-run-the-economy/

· This video highlights the views of Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, on the role that government should play in the economy. He explains why no one person or group can “run” the economy, and why any attempt to do so can only make things worse. This video provides a perspective on limited government intervention and will assist you in your The Role of Government and the Impact of Politics assignment this week. This video has closed captioning and a transcript. Accessibility Statement does not exist. Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

 

Recommended Resources

Text

Tamny, J. (2015). Popular economics: What the Rolling Stones, Downton Abbey, and LeBron James can teach you about economics. Retrieved from https://www.redshelf.com

· Chapter 12: Antitrust Laws: The Neutering of the Near-Term Excellent

Articles

Dunson, B. H., & Stone, B. M. (2017). Unemployed versus “not in the labor force”: Is there a difference? Journal of Organizational Psychology, 17(5), 64–108. Retrieved from http://www.na-businesspress.com/

· The full-text version of this article is available through the ProQuest Central database in the Ashford University Library. This article discusses detailed research that has been performed on the unemployment rate. The article provides a review of unemployment by age and race, and examines what is not included in the unemployment rate. This article provides more information on the unemployment rate and may assist you in your Unemployment discussion forum this week.

Fixler, D. J., Kanal, D., & Tien, P.-L. (2018, January). The revisions to GDP, GDI, and their major components. Survey of Current Business, 98, 1–21. Retrieved from https://apps.bea.gov/

· The full-text version of this article is available through the EBSCOhost database in the Ashford University Library. This article thoroughly dives into the components of GDP and GDI (gross domestic income). The article challenges the accuracy of the measurements. This article provides more information and a different perspective on the growth of the economy and may assist you in your Gross Domestic Product (GDP) discussion forum this week.

The International Economy. (2017, Fall). Does the conventional wisdom about productivity need to be reconsidered? The International Economy, 8–27. Retrieved from http://www.international-economy.com/

· The full-text version of this article is available through the EBSCOhost database in the Ashford University Library. This article discusses productivity and the growth of the economy. The article is quite interesting as it gives different views of this topic from a leading economist. This article provides more information and a different perceptive on the growth of the economy and may assist you in your Gross Domestic Product (GDP) discussion forum this week.

Liu, Z., Spiegel, M. M., & Tallman, E. B. (2018, May 29). Is GDP overstating economic activity? FRBSF Economic Letter, 2018(14), 1–5. Retrieved from https://www.frbsf.org/

· The full-text version of this article is available through the EBSCOhost database in the Ashford University Library. The article examines both GDP and GDI and determines which measurement is more accurate and why. This article provides more information on how GDP is measured and may assist you in your Gross Domestic Product (GDP) discussion this week.

New Orleans CityBusiness. (2018, July 17). Op-Ed: Don’t be misled by the unemployment rate. New Orleans CityBusiness. Retrieved from https://neworleanscitybusiness.com/

· The full-text version of this article is available through the ProQuest Central database in the Ashford University Library. This article discusses the unemployment rate as compared to the National Federation of Independent Business survey. The article gives insights into the calculation of the unemployment rate and whether this is an accurate portrayal of the economy. This article provides more information on the unemployment rate and may assist you in your Unemployment discussion forum this week.

Multimedia

CrashCourse. (2016, January 29). Market economy: Crash course government and politics #46 (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/6yLY06tTQ1A

· This video examines how the government creates and maintains the market economic system. The video provides the perspective of pro-government intervention and the necessity of government due to the deficiencies in a free market. This video may assist you in your The Role of Government and the Impact of Politics assignment this week. This video has closed captioning and a transcript. Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.) Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

Economic Policy Institute. (2016, June 21). A 21st century view of the role of government (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.epi.org/event/a-21st-century-view-of-the-role-of-government/

· This video is from an Economic Policy Institute meeting. The role of government in the economy was discussed in detail by several experts who have differing views of how much the government should interact with the overall economy. Prominent speakers include: Ann O’Leary, senior policy advisor to the Hillary Clinton campaign; Jacob Hacker, professor of political science at Yale and co-author of American Amnesia; Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs and author of Fractured Republic; E. J. Dionne, columnist with the Washington Post and author of Why the Right Went Wrong; and Christian Dorsey, former author for the Economic Policy Institute. This video may assist you in The Role of Government and the Impact of Politics assignment this week. This video has closed captioning and a transcript that can be accessed here: A 21st Century View of the Role of Government: Transcript (Links to an external site.). Accessibility Statement does not exist. Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

PragerU. (2016, March 14). Government: Is it ever big enough? (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.prageru.com/video/government-is-it-ever-big-enough/

· This video discusses politics from a conservative viewpoint, giving reasons why government intervention should be minimized. The video provides the viewpoint of a conservative and points out flaws of liberal politics as it relates to government spending. This video may assist you in The Role of Government and the Impact of Politics assignment this week. This video has closed captioning and a transcript. Accessibility Statement does not exist. Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)

PragerU. (2019, January 28). Why Trump won (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.prageru.com/video/why-trump-won/

· This video featuring Stephen Harper, former prime minister of Canada, discusses the change in the political landscape that lead to Donald Trump becoming president. He explains how the impact of globalization has reshaped politics and is driving monetary policy. The video is not meant to persuade or suggest one political party or idea is right. Rather, the video provides a fascinating look at politics in play. This video may assist you with The Role of Government and the Impact of Politics assignment. This video has closed captioning and a transcript. Accessibility Statement does not exist. Privacy Policy

INSTRUCTION

Prior to beginning work on this discussion,

· Read Chapter 8 of Macroeconomics: Private and Public Choice.

For this discussion, address the following questions:

· How is unemployment calculated, and what is and is not included?

· What were the unemployment numbers for the latest three quarters?

· Why is unemployment mentioned in business news so often and used as an important metric for our economy?

· What might cause the unemployment numbers to be questioned from an accuracy standpoint and a relevancy perspective?

· How is unemployment impacted by the phases of the business cycle?

Your initial response should be a minimum of 200 words. Graduate school students learn to assess the perspectives of several scholars. Support your response with at least one scholarly and/or credible resource in addition to the text.