Session:6 The Macroeconomic Perspective
Critical Thinking Questions
Principles of Macroeconomics 3e | Leadership Development – Micro-Learning Session
Rice University 2020 | Michael Laverty, Colorado State University Global Chris Littel, North Carolina State University| https://openstax.org/details/books/principles-macroeconomics-3e
20. U.S. macroeconomic data are among the best in the world. Given what you learned in the Clear It Up “How
do statisticians measure GDP?”, does this surprise you, or does this simply reflect the complexity of a
modern economy?
21. What does GDP not tell us about the economy?
22. Should people typically pay more attention to their real income or their nominal income? If you choose
the latter, why would that make sense in today’s world? Would your answer be the same for the 1970s?
23. Why do you suppose that U.S. GDP is so much higher today than 50 or 100 years ago?
24. Why do you think that GDP does not grow at a steady rate, but rather speeds up and slows down?
25. Cross country comparisons of GDP per capita typically use purchasing power parity equivalent exchange
rates, which are a measure of the long run equilibrium value of an exchange rate. In fact, we used PPP
equivalent exchange rates in this module. Why could using market exchange rates, which sometimes
change dramatically in a short period of time, be misleading?
26. Why might per capita GDP be only an imperfect measure of a country’s standard of living?
27. How might you measure a “green” GDP?
do statisticians measure GDP?”, does this surprise you, or does this simply reflect the complexity of a
modern economy?
21. What does GDP not tell us about the economy?
22. Should people typically pay more attention to their real income or their nominal income? If you choose
the latter, why would that make sense in today’s world? Would your answer be the same for the 1970s?
23. Why do you suppose that U.S. GDP is so much higher today than 50 or 100 years ago?
24. Why do you think that GDP does not grow at a steady rate, but rather speeds up and slows down?
25. Cross country comparisons of GDP per capita typically use purchasing power parity equivalent exchange
rates, which are a measure of the long run equilibrium value of an exchange rate. In fact, we used PPP
equivalent exchange rates in this module. Why could using market exchange rates, which sometimes
change dramatically in a short period of time, be misleading?
26. Why might per capita GDP be only an imperfect measure of a country’s standard of living?
27. How might you measure a “green” GDP?