Fiscal Policy: Work It Out According to recent estimates by Susan Woodward and Robert Hall, an extra dollar of government purchases raises GDP by one dollar—so there is little evidence for a "multiplier effect" in the short run, but also little evidence for "crowding out" in the short run. (Perhaps both effects are at work, but they just happen to balance out in practice.) Let’s use these estimates as a rule of thumb to solve the following economic puzzles. Answer in U. S. dollars. a. U. S. GDP is about $14 trillion and the Solow growth rate is 3%. Assume that a decrease in aggregate demand caused the growth rate to be only 1%. If Congress wants to return growth to the Solow growth rate and thus move the economy back onto the LRAS curve by increasing government purchases, how big of an increase in government purchases should it enact to close the gap?

Grant, inc., acquired 30% of south co.’s voting stock for $200,000 on january 2, year 1, and did not elect the fair value option. the price equaled the carrying amount and the fair value of the interest purchased in south’s net assets. grant’s 30% interest in south gave grant the ability to exercise significant influence over south’s operating and financial policies. during year 1, south earned $80,000 and paid dividends of $50,000. south reported earnings of $100,000 for the 6 months ended june 30, year 2, and $200,000 for the year ended december 31, year 2. on july 1, year 2, grant sold half of its stock in south for $150,000 cash. south paid dividends of $60,000 on october 1, year 2. before income taxes, what amount should grant include in its year 1 income statement as a result of the investment?

Robert black, regional manager for ford in texas and oklahoma, faced a dilemma. the ford f-150 pickup truck was the best-selling pickup ever, yet ford's headquarters in detroit had decided to introduce a completely redesigned f-150. how could mr. black sell both trucks at the same time? he still had "old" f-150s in stock. in his advertising, mr. black referred to the new f-150s as follows: "not a better f-150. just the only truck good enough to be the next f-150." this statement represents ford's of the new f-150.

Verizon communications, inc., provides the following footnote relating to its leasing activities in its 10-k report. the aggregate minimum rental commitments under noncancelable leases for the periods shown at december 31, 2010, are as follows: years (dollars in millions) capital leases operatingleases 2011 $97 $1,898 2012 74 1,720 2013 70 1,471 2014 54 1,255 2015 42 1,012 thereafter 81 5,277 total minimum 418 $ 12,633 rental commitments less interest and (86) executory costs present value of 332 minimum lease payments less current (75) installments long-term obligation $257 at december 31, 2010 (a) confirm that verizon capitalized its capital leases using a rate of 7.4 %. (b) compute the present value of verizon's operating leases, assuming an 7.4% discount rate and rounding the remaining lease term to 3 decimal places. (use a financial calculator or excel to compute. do not round until your final answers. round each answer to the nearest whole number.)