Suppose that the MPC is 0.8 and that $18 trillion of real GDP is currently being demanded. The government wants to increase real GDP demanded to $19 trillion at the same price level. By how much would it have to increase government purchases to achieve this goal (use the simple spending multiplier)?

$200 billion

Explanation:

First find the government spending multiplier:

Multiplier = 1 / (1 - MPC)

= 1 / (1 - 0.8)

= 5

The government wants to increase the real GDP to $19 trillion from $18 trillion which means that they want to increase it by $1 trillion.

In order to increase it by $1 trillion, the amount the government needs to spend is:

Increase in real GDP = Multiplier * Government spending

1 trillion = 5 * Government spending

Government spending = 1 trillion / 5

= $200 billion

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