internet-probs-for-ch2

Principles of Economics
Economics 108
Department of Economics, University of Rochester
Fall, 2002
Professor Alan C. Stockman
Last updated September 6, 2002
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INTERNET ASSIGNMENTS for Chapter 2: On the Internet, go to the following sites.

(1) Go to the EconoMagic.com. Choose "US nonfarm employment" under "Bureau of Labor Statistics" and click on "total private" employment (the second item under the heading, "Total Employment") Just under the heading, "Series Title: Total private: Total Employment (thousands), SA", choose "GIF Chart." You should see a graph. Below the graph, you can change the options for the graph. Make the starting year 1950, and click the "Make Chart" button at the bottom of the page. You will see a graph of total private employment in the United States in the second half of the 20th century. By how much did it increase in that time period? In which years did the economy suffer recessions, with decreases in total private employment? By how much did employment fall, and for how long?

Go back to the EconoMagic home page. Find "interest rates" under "Federal Reserve, Board of Governors," and at the top you'll see the "federal funds rate." Click on it and then create GIF plot from 1950 to 2002. In what ways has this interest rate changed in the last half century? Do you see any connection between changes in the "federal funds rate" and changes in total private employment?

(2) Go to the BLS Economy at a Glance. Find "Average Hourly Earnings"and click on the "dinosaur" icon under "Back Data." At the top of the page, make the graph start in 1964, and hit the "Go" button. How large are average hourly earnings (of production workers) in the United States today? How large were they in 1964? In 1990? In 1998?

Go to the BLS Economy at a Glance, and find "Consumer Price Index." Again click on the "dinosaur" icon, then choose "More Formatting Options" near the top of the page. Under "Select View of the Data" (top left), check the box next to "Original Data Value" and UNcheck the box for "1 Month Percent Change," then under "Select the time frame...," choose "All Years." Then click the "Retrieve Data" button. (a) How much, on average, have prices in the United States increased in various decades? (b) Looking back at average hourly earnings of U.S. workers, did earnings rise faster than prices, or did prices rise faster than earnings?

(3) STATISTICS EVERY WRITER SHOULD KNOW --- ASSIGNMENT: read the first two sections ("So, You're a Beginner?" and "The Next Step: Not Getting Duped" to learn about means, medians, percent changes, "per capita" and rates of change, standard deviations, and margins of error.

(4) Go to the website for Fair Play: What Your Child Can Teach You About Economics, Values, and the Meaning of Life, by Steven E. Landsburg (Rochester faculty member) and read the sample chapter. (a) Which statements are positive and which are normative? (b) Summarize Landsburg's positive argument. (c) Summarize his normative argument.

(5) Read about how economists use data as evidence for or against models, and think about the question at the end.

GOOD TO KNOW:
A very useful site for finding economic data is Resources for Economists on the Internet by Bill Goffe.
A very useful source of U.S. socio-economic data is A Statistical Abstract of the United States.