Ask an Economist
Welcome to Ask an Economist, a public service of the Department of Economics at Iowa State University, designed to answer your economic questions.
Our talented faculty and alumni can answer questions on a variety of economic topics to help you make more informed choices about your day-to-day decisions--or to just add a more reasoned voice when talk of the economy comes up around the dinner table.
Questions & Answers
Thanks for your ‘Ask an Economist’ question. I will provide some thoughts, but may not be able to answer it completely to your satisfaction given I do not fully understand how your fantasy league operates. For example, you do not expla
The sale of Treasury securities is the government's way of borrowing funds from the public. When the government sells bills, notes, and bonds, the public, the investors, become the government's creditors.
Any subnational economic modeling includes two challenging components: data and structure. Detailed subnational data for the US is automatically suspect because input-output tables are not collected at any subnational level. Interstate
To begin with, the premise of this question is somewhat mistaken. As was true in earlier wars, WW II did cause a large expansion of federal government debt both absolutely and relative to GDP. Indeed, the debt/GDP ratio reached about 9
I am not sure there is any deep reason why a government would want to set a cap on wages. What purpose would it serve, other than to curb income inequality by lopping off the top rungs of the ladder?
Take a simple textbook example due to Keynes. If you are spending beyond your means, a financial advisor may recommend some austerity on your behalf: ask you t cut spending, pay off your debt, and stay within your means.
You are correct that modern economics requires a high degree of facility with mathematics, including probability and statistics. The requirements for mathematical proficiency will vary somewhat from program to program. That said, econo
Thank you for bringing this rumor to our attention. First, it would be helpful to understand what you mean by “a country’s success” or “potential”. I suspect you may be referring to a country’s growth in income (growth in GDP/economic
Tariffs, like many government policies, have both costs and benefits. As your questions points out, we have heard much about the costs of tariffs in the ongoing trade disputes. But there are also benefits that accrue. For example
Let me first state that I cannot answer the legal part of the question.
Politicians can claim credit for whatever they want – and typically they do claim credit for everything that looks good and blame everything that looks bad on their opponents.
How would rental income be divided between equal owners of a property where one owner resides there?
It is not possible to provide a very good answer to this question because because it is not very clearly posed and is not specific about the desired remedy.
The difference is between real and nominal growth. The GDP of a country is the $ value of the goods & services produced by that country in a year. Say, the GDP of a country in 2010 is $100 and that in 2011 is $110.
A mutual savings bank (MSB) is a chartered financial intermediary that operates as an association of individuals who are depositors, also known as members. MSBs are owned by their depositors, not stockholders, and this means that an MSB’s pr
GDP is the $ value of the total value of final goods and services produced in a year. That is the income definition. There is an equivalent expenditure definition.
The policy-driven increase in the import price of U.S. soybeans into China generated a change in relative soybean prices across the globe, making U.S.
The need to pay it back would discipline the actions of the borrower, make them choose more worthwhile projects. This would raise efficiency.
Continue Reading AnswerProjects like temples and pyramids, as with public monuments today, represent a choice about how labor effort in a society is directed. Some labor is required to produce food, shelter and clothing that are necessities for sustaining life.
I am not aware of any restrictions on live animal exports centered on animal welfare concerns. Concerns about animal disease outbreaks and food safety have primarily led to trade restrictions on live animals, meat, and animal products.
Great question! In general, we don’t need a monopsonistic setting to explain crude differentials between WCS and WTI. In a competitive market, prices for the same product (oil, corn, etc.) can diverge in different markets for two reaso
The impact of stockpiling commodities on prices depends on the timeframe. While the stockpiling is occurring, your reasoning is accurate.
Inflation is the natural outcome of price changes brought about by market forces and governmental forces.
Bitcoin itself doesn't affect global financial markets very much now. It has been used with some unlawful activities such as purchasing drug and money laundering.
You could allow the group to report this to the station master and get a Rs. 25 award. You could randomly check buses unannounced. You could offer a bonus to the ticket master for every ticket he has proof of having sold.
The writer has already shown that a good argument can be made either way. There is no correct answer the way the question is framed. The friends will debate the question until the restaurant closes.