Public policy

able to better understand various concepts in economics and how they apply to the world today. In particular, I learned about tax policy, price discrimination, productivity, and globalization which has allowed me to better understand how economic policies affect my life and the world around me. I thought it was interesting when Wheelan mentioned that the best public policies economically are those that incentivise good habits like hard work or reducing pollution but don’t punish good tendencies…

Independent central banks are an institutional tool that many think can help governments make effective public policy. A central bank can be defined as a bank set up by the government specifically to help handle its transactions, to coordinate the policies of private banks, and to control interest rates (Shively 112). Interest rates can be controlled either by lending its reserves freely and lowering interest rates by increasing the amount of money in circulation, or by decreasing the amount of…

Milton Friedman argues that the correlation between general price level and money supply is captured using the economic equation of exchange. MV=PY where Money supply/Quantity of money. On the other hand, V=Velocity of money circulation, while P and Y represent General Price and Real national income respectively. The according to Milton Friedman, the equation means that the total value of the quantity of money multiplied by velocity equals the money value acquired at the output. Regarding the…

Summary Kee and Shannon (1992) offer a historical analysis to explain the changes in power and responsibility of the state/local government and the federal government. They examine the following three historical periods of federalism to understand the shifting eras of power between the fifty states and the United States capitol. 1.The 1789-1932 era: the federal government’s domestic role was limited and states were fiscally stronger and had a large degree of autonomy (Kee & Shannon, 1992)…

in Japan? Foreign exchange markets are arguably the quickest to discount changes in economic management, particularly monetary policy. The recent weakening of the yen versus the US dollar has been some of the most profound since the Plaza Accord of September 1985. It suggests, therefore, that foreign exchange markets are expecting a renewed easing of Japanese monetary policy. Since banks’ deposit rates at the Bank of Japan (BoJ) are already in negative territory, and Governor Kuroda presides…

countries’ domestic interest rates and, therefore, their economies. Governments could thus implement macroeconomic policy "without interference from the ebb and flow of international capital movements or flights of hot money," said J. M. Keynes, father of Keynesianism and architect of the postwar world economic order (McMichael, 2016). Although, as the mid 1970’s approached, Keynesian policies began to break down and economic crises struck on both sides of the Atlantic, creating an optimal venue…

of touch with the economic realities of ordinary Americans. The Democrats showered its policies with encomiums like “herculean.” And those were just the opening statements on Wednesday, as the Fed’s chairwoman, Janet L. Yellen, began two days of biannual testimony on Capitol Hill. Ms. Yellen functions as the nation’s economic weatherwoman, and on Wednesday, she sounded more worried than at her last public appearance, in December. Convulsions in financial markets, it seems, could restrain…

which was a largest drop since 2007. The negative effect of China’s long-term interventionist approach may be more severe than the decreasing of the stock market. Very few people would like to invest in a market that the government can change the policies all the times. Recent events pressurize China’s leaders to revalue what they control the economy. If they insist their decision and continue to keep the current price system, they will be hard to build a stable…

for those that bear the brunt of our actions solely because the situation doesn’t directly affect us? Personally, I feel a strong connection to this question because too often, people in our society are oblivious to the exact nature of our foreign policies and engagements with other countries. Mainly, the “War on Terror” is a prime example of an issue that has been plaguing society for quite a while with no end in sight any time soon. Politicians have repeatedly claimed that the conflicts we are…

issues he talks about being dissatisfied with his actions. As Goldberg mentions, “Obama, ordinarily a preternaturally confident man, was looking for validation, and trying to devise ways to explain his change of heart, both to his own aides and to the public” (Goldberg 2016, 75). This quote from “The Obama Doctrine” is speaking on President Obama’s lack of enforcement of the red line. He drew boundaries saying that this was to be the final thread in hopes to prevent Bashar al-Assad from going…