By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain merchandise trade balance, current account balance, and unilateral transfers
Identify components of the U.S. current account balance
Calculate the merchandise trade balance and current account balance using import and export data for a country

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Identify three factors that influence a country's level of trade
Differentiate between balance of trade and level of trade

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain the determinants of trade and current account balance
Identify and calculate supply and demand for financial capital
Explain how a nation's own level of domestic saving and investment determines a nation's balance of trade
Predict the rising and falling of trade deficits based on a nation's saving and investment identity

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Identify three ways in which borrowing money or running a trade deficit can result in a healthy economy
Identify three ways in which borrowing money or running a trade deficit can result in a weaker economy

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain the connection between trade balances and financial capital flows
Calculate comparative advantage
Explain balanced trade in terms of investment and capital flows

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Analyze graphs of the current account balance and the merchandise trade balance
Identify patterns in U.S. trade surpluses and deficits
Compare the U.S. trade surpluses and deficits to other countries' trade surpluses and deficits

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain real GDP, recessionary gaps, and inflationary gaps
Recognize the Keynesian AD/AS model
Identify the determining factors of both consumption expenditure and investment expenditure
Analyze the factors that determine government spending and net exports

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Evaluate the Keynesian view of recessions through an understanding of sticky wages and prices and the importance of aggregate demand
Explain the coordination argument, menu costs, and macroeconomic externality
Analyze the impact of the expenditure multiplier

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain the Keynesian perspective on market forces
Analyze the role of government policy in economic management

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain the Phillips curve, noting its impact on the theories of Keynesian economics
Graph a Phillips curve
Identify factors that cause the instability of the Phillips curve
Analyze the Keynesian policy for reducing unemployment and inflation

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Contrast nominal GDP and real GDPExplain GDP deflatorCalculate real GDP based on nominal GDP values

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain how we can use GDP to compare the economic welfare of different nationsCalculate the conversion of GDP to a common currency by using exchange ratesCalculate GDP per capita using population data

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Discuss how productivity influences the standard of livingExplain the limitations of GDP as a measure of the standard of livingAnalyze the relationship between GDP data and fluctuations in the standard of living

This module covers:Measuring the Size of the Economy: Gross Domestic ProductAdjusting Nominal Values to Real ValuesTracking Real GDP over TimeComparing GDP among CountriesHow Well GDP Measures the Well-Being of Society

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Identify the components of GDP on the demand side and on the supply sideEvaluate how economists measure gross domestic product (GDP)Contrast and calculate GDP, net exports, and net national product

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain recessions, depressions, peaks, and troughsEvaluate the importance of tracking real GDP over time

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Evaluate how neoclassical economists and Keynesian economists react to recessions
Analyze the interrelationship between the neoclassical and Keynesian economic models

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain the importance of potential GDP in the long run
Analyze the role of flexible prices
Interpret a neoclassical model of aggregate demand and aggregate supply
Evaluate different ways for measuring the speed of macroeconomic adjustment