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
It means that once the dust has settled, insurance companies have paid out, homes have been rebuilt, infrastructure redone, people have moved out, businesses rebuilt, and so on, the total cost of all that would reach billions.
Alas, your concern about lack of sound fiscal management is not only justified in this case but is justified far more broadly. Many policy changes are initiated without third party studies to back them up.
Although China has had a spectacular economic growth in the last three decades, income/wealth inequality has been rising over time. It would not be a big problem as long as the high growth of economy can be sustained.
I am not sure I agree with the premise that the government buys a lot of goods and services which are otherwise not traded in a competitive market. (I suppose military expenses come under that description, to some extent.).
Food waste arises from preferences, incentives, and constraints. Retailers have time and other resource constraints which implies that it simply will not be worth it to sell every last item of food in every instance.
If prices are not rising at all over time or even falling, it would act as an disincentive for firms to produce goods for the market. For durables, if people expect prices to fall, they will wait.
Without questioning the specific numbers cited in the study, I would argue that much of the total does not represent a bailout of banks in a conventional sense.
If the central bank printed some money and "gave to someone secretly" and that person did not spend it, nothing would happen.
This is a very intriguing proposal that deserves to be researched. It can have a stimulative effect for sure, at least in the short run.
Taken literally, fringe benefits are extra, non-monetary compensation, such as health insurance, etc.
A fundamental principle of accounting is that the liabilities of one party are the assets of another. National debt is simply the amount owed by the federal government – that is, its liabilities.
Information on changes in deposits at commercial banks can be useful in gaining a better understanding of a local economy.
There are many things to consider in making the choice between purchasing a new or used car, including a comparison of sticker prices. As you suggest, new car values depreciate significantly in the first few months of ownership, often droppi
A 2012 United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service study used a simulation analysis to estimate the impact a 5.8-million-person reduction in the number of unauthorized workers—agricultural and nonagricultural.
There is a large literature that attempts to adjust the various conventional measures of economic growth for the effects of environmental degradation.
Suppose that $5000 is the face value or redemption value (not the market price at which an investor may have bought it) of a 5-year TIPs. Suppose that it promises to pay an annual coupon payment of 1% or the amount of $50 at the time of purchase...
In principle, if most companies offering retirement plans switched to 401(k)'s simultaneously and no new stocks were issued (i.e., no change on the supply side of the stock market), I would expect a substantial increase in the stock prices, as...
Continue Reading AnswerIn a recent study of U.S.
Yes, there are definitely opportunities to export Iowa agricultural products. The U.S.
Roughly speaking, you need to compute the aggregate valuation of the students for each house. They should then rent the house for which the gap between their aggregate valuation and the house’s rent is the largest. They can then alloca
first part:
You can try
Your proposed theory of wage setting appears to be consistent with the way that most economists would approach this issue. That is, most economists would accept that an individual’s wage is determined by the “human capital” – i.e., skills, e
It’s hard to answer your question since the situation in Britain is in flux. I can only mention a few considerations that may be relevant.
I’m not able to read (too small) the table. Regardless, I think the question relates to flipping stocks. Admittedly, my expertise is much more in commodity futures markets, but I believe the theory/rationale holds across markets.