Trump Economics anyone??? Part I

The good news for Trump is that many parts of the economy are still humming.
Trump is taking credit particularly for strong job growth and record high stock prices.
The housing market is another bright spot.
And the trade deficit has narrowed.

Here's a detailed look at the American economy, 200 days into the Trump presidency.

1. Jobs

It's hard to find fault with the latest jobs numbers.
The unemployment rate is 4.3%, a 16-year low.
The economy has added more than 1 million jobs since Trump took office.
On the other hand, wage growth has yet to really pick up.
Employers still don't feel pressure to offer big salaries to attract the workers they need.
Average hourly earnings have increased only 2.5% over the past 12 months.
The Federal Reserve would rather see 3% to 3.5%.
Still, because inflation is low, those wage gains are helping many Americans.

2. Housing prices
They're red hot.
The average price for an existing home in June was a record $263,800, or 6.5% higher than a year ago.
June was the 64th consecutive month of gains compared with a year earlier.
And borrowing money to buy a house remains relatively affordable, despite recent interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
The average rate for a 30-year mortgage is just 3.93%, according to Freddie Mac, down from 4.02% three months ago.

It is important ... water

In May 2016, the World Bank reported that fresh water scarcity could be the biggest problem facing the economies of the world.
Economies across large portions of the planet could shrink dramatically by 2050 as climate change causes fresh water scarcity issues.

A few regions may suffer particularly badly. One standout is the Middle East, where gross domestic products (GDP) could slip by as much as 14% unless the region comes up with ways to significantly reallocate the supply of fresh water.

Solution to EQ - Quiz I- 2017-18

ANDREAN ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION – FY CHAPTER - 2017-18

Check Your EQ – Quiz I SOLVED

1. What are the four factors of
B. Land, capital, labor, entrepreneurs

2. When a government's expenses for a year are higher than its revenue for that year, the difference is known
C. Budget deficit   

3. If the United States stopped importing cars from Japan, who would most likely benefit?
B. American automakers   

4. Which of the following are most likely to be helped by
C. People who borrowed money at fixed interest rates

5. Which of the following statements about money is
C. It makes buying and selling easier    

6. The stock market is an example of an institution that exists to help people achieve their goals. The existence of the stock
C. Brings together buyers and sellers of stocks

7. If interest rates charged by banks decreased, business would be most likely A. Increase investment spending          

8. A person who starts a business to produce a new product is known in the marketplace as
C. entrepreneur  

9. A large increase in the cost of producing jeans is most likely to result
B. Higher jean prices and fewer jeans bought

10. Since the resources used in the production of goods and services are limited, society
D. Make choices about how to use resources

11. In India, who determines what goods and services will be
D. Producers, consumers, and government

12. If the price of fish doubled and the price of poultry stayed the same, people would most likely
B. More poultry and less fish

13. When a person rents an apartment, who benefits from the transaction?

C. Both the renter and the landlord     

14. For most people, the largest portion of their personal income comes from:

C. Wages and salaries from their jobs  

15. What is PPF?

B. Production Possibilities Frontier

16. Name the three types of taxes.

D. Progressive, proportional, regressive

17. What does the term "Laissez Faire"
A. The philosophy that government should not interfere with business activity

18. What is Scarcity?

C. The condition that results from society not having enough resources to produce all the things people would like to have

19. What do the points along the PPF represent?
A. Maximum combination of output if all resources are fully employed

20. What does the word utility mean?

C. Ability or capacity of a good or service to be useful and give satisfaction to someone

*******

Check Your EQ - Quiz I - 2017-18

The results are out   ... and the top scorers are:
In first place with a perfect score of 20: Shubhangi Singh FYBA
In second place with a score of 18: Lynette Monteiro FYBA
In third place with a score of 17 we have a tie between Nobel Fernando FYBA, Warren Romer FYBA, Emelia Fernandes FYBCom and Joe Pereira FYBCom.

Special mention to Fatema Patel, Ibrat Shaikh and Marc Nazareth from TYBA who scored 20, 19,and 18 respectively.

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE .... WINNERS AND ALL THE PARTICIPANTS

LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR PARTICIPATION IN AN EVENT NEXT WEEK

Did You Know ....?

With the gross world product closing in on the $50 trillion mark, as reported by the IMF, the following countries lead in terms of GDP (in trillions of USD) :
U.S.A. close to 13.25

Japan around 4.5

Germany about 3.0

China near 2.75

U.K. around 2.5
Source: Economy Watch

In the news today ....

The Third Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2017-18

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to:
Reduce the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 6.25% to 6.0% with immediate effect.
Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75%, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.25%.

The MPC observed that while inflation has fallen to a historic low, a conclusive segregation of transitory and structural factors driving the disinflation is still elusive.
The MPC remains focused on its commitment to keeping headline inflation close to 4% on a durable basis.

In the news today ...

In what could be the first high profile exit from government's top policy think tank, Arvind Panagariya on Tuesday resigned as the Vice-Chairman of Niti Aayog, also called the National Institution for Transforming India.
Panagariya has reportedly said that he will return to academia and August 31 is expected to be his last day in office.