In this 5 minute video, students will examine what inflation is and how it can affect consumers and producers. This video will aid in mastery of standard EPF. 5 (b)

This Summer 2021 issue of Page One Economics describes how to think about stable prices, how inflation has evolved in recent years, how the relationship between inflation and employment is changing, and what the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has recently stated about its strategy to meet its price stability goal.

In this course, the student will build on and apply what you learned in the introductory macroeconomics course. The student will use the concepts of output, unemployment, inflation, consumption, and investment to study the dynamics of an economy at a more advanced level. As the course progresses, the student will gain a better appreciation for how policy shifts and changes in one sector impact the rest of the macroeconomy (whether the impacts are intended or unintended). The student will also examine the causes of inflation and depression, and discuss various approaches to responding to them. By the end of this course, the student should be able to think critically about the economy and develop your own unique perspective on various issues. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Explain the standard theory in macroeconomics at an intermediate level; Explain and use the basic tools of macroeconomic theory, and apply them to help address problems in public policy; Analyze the role of government in allocating scarce resources; Explain how inflation affects entire economic systems; Synthesize the impact of employment and unemployment in a free market economy; Build macroeconomic models to describe changes over time in monetary and fiscal policy; Compare and contrast arguments concerning business, consumers and government, and make good conjectures regarding the possible solutions; Analyze the methods of computing and explaining how much is produced in an economy; Apply basic tools that are used in many fields of economics, including uncertainty, capital and investment, and economic growth. (Economics 202)

This 8 minute video will explain the principles of Keynesian Economic Theory and the economist who came up with the idea, John Maynard Keynes. This video will enforce standard EPF. 5 (d)

Again the theme of corruption in the Van Buren administration, here centering on the President's "Sub-Treasury" or independent treasury program, passed by Congress in July 1840. A large frigate "United States," rigged with "Sub Treasury Rags" sails, sits at anchor in a cove. From it several men empty barrels of "Treasury grains" into two dinghies. Rowing away in a third dinghy are (left to right) Martin Van Buren, John C. Calhoun, and Thomas Hart Benton. The boat is labeled "M. Von Kinder & Co. Shew Boat Absquabulation." Van Buren, sitting on the stern of the boat, declares, "I have taken Care of my self Let the People take care of themselves Heaven's for us all!" Calhoun sings as he rows:I came in your need, To serve you indeed; My views could scarcely soar higher, You must be aware, That the Plunder I'll share, Or I'll prove a staunch Nullifyer. Benton, also rowing: "I am Bent on Gulling the People to see the "promised" Gold & Silver [cropped] flowing up the Mississippi [cropped]." On the shore at left a group of people wave and hail William Henry Harrison, who leaves the bank in a boat. "Vox Populi, Vox Dei!" they cry, "Hurra Old Tip. / Dont Give up the Ship." In the background left is a log cabin, a fence, and a ploughman in a field. Though unsigned "The Little Magician" is no doubt the work of Philadelphia printmaker/satirist James Akin. In the peculiar handling of the figures and crowded composition it compares closely to his "The Massachusetts Hoar Outwitted" (no. 1845-6) and "Crib of Wolf Meat" (Quimby, no. 58). It also exhibits Akin's distinctive lettering and bordering style. "The Little Magician" is not listed in Quimby's checklist of Akin's work. |Drawn by James Akin, Philadelphia.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1840-40.

A satire touching on some of the major issues in Connecticut politics on the eve of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. The two rival factions shown are the "Federals," who represented the trading interests and were for taxes on imports, and the "Antifederals," who represented agrarian interests and were more receptive to paper money issues. The two groups were also divided on the issue of commutation of military pensions. The artist here evidently sides with the Federals. Connecticut is symbolized by a wagon (top center) loaded with debts and paper money, the weight of which causes it to sink slowly into the mud. Its driver warns, "Gentlemen this Machine is deep in the mire and you are divided as to its releaf--" The wagon is pulled in opposite directions by two factions of the state's Council of Twelve. On the left under a beaming sun are five Federal councillors, who proclaim: "Pay Commutation," "Drive them to it," "I abhor the antifederal Faction," and "Comply with Congress." On the right the sky fills with angry storm clouds spewing thunderbolts, while the earth erupts in flames. Below six of the council's Antifederal members pull on their chain crying: "Tax Luxury," "the People are oprest," "curses on to Foederal Govermt.," "Success to Shays" (an allusion to charges that they sympathized with agrarian radicals led by Daniel Shay in Massachusetts), and "Curse Independence." The seventh Antifederal on the council, William Williams (here labeled with his press pseudonym "Agricola"), also appears. He stands defecating at right, with his trousers undone and a small animal--probably a skunk--between his feet. Williams remarks, "I fear & dread the Ides of May" (i.e. the May 15 elections to the upper house). The skunk sprays toward Williams's enemy Samuel Holden Parsons (far right, identified as "S--H--P"), president of the state's Society of the Cincinnati. Parsons, also obscenely bending over, sprays back saying, "A good Shot." In the left middleground, "Cato," a pseudonymous contributor to the "New Haven Gazette," comments, "I despise your Copper" to the man beside him, who holds a Connecticut coin and mutters, "Cur's commutation." In the center a farmer with a plough, rake, and bottle complains, "Takes all to pay taxes." In the left foreground three members of the Connecticut Wits stand on the Mount "Parnassus," and read from a scroll "American Antiquities" (excerpts from their "Anarchiad" published in Connecticut newspapers beginning in October 1786). To the right is the Connecticut shoreline and the buildings of Manhattan, the latter threatened by thunderbolts from the upper right. Three merchant vessels ply a body of water below, "From Connecticut to New York paying L40000 per annum Impost." In the left corner a tiny figure sits at a w7riting desk, reading a paper with the verse: "Tweedles Studdy/as I sit plodding by my taper." This piece alludes to a satirical poem by "Trustless Fox" in the "New Haven Gazette" of November 23, 1786. Its opening lines are: "As I sat plodding by my taper, I wreaked a glance into the paper . . . ." The interpretation given above is largely based on the commentary of a Sotheby's cataloger (see reference below). That writer suggests that "Trustless Fox" and the designer of "The Looking Glass for 1787" may have been one and the same, based on the references to material in the New Haven Press. |Attribution to Amos Doolittle is from the Sotheby's auction catalog.|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Sotheby's "Fine Printed and Manuscript Americana." (Catalog of the auction sale April 16, 1988). New York: Sotheby's, 1988, no. 44.|Weitenkampf, p. 11.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1787-1.|Exhibited in: Creating the United States, Library of Congress, 2008.

This is the second course in the four-quarter graduate sequence in macroeconomics. Its purpose is to introduce the basic models macroeconomists use to study fluctuations. Topics include the basic model or the consumption/saving choice, the RBC model or the labor/leisure choice, non-trivial investment decisions, two-good analysis, money, price setting, the “new Keynesian” model, monetary policy, and fiscal policy.

Have you ever heard someone say "Back in my day, a gallon of gas cost a quarter!" Comparing today's prices with prices "back in the day" can be misleading. Both inflation and deflation between then and now have to be taken into account. Read the August 2013 issue to learn more about the effects of inflation on prices.

Clay portrays Martin Van Buren driven from the White House by nightmares of cider barrels and Whig presidential challenger William Henry Harrison. Van Buren flees the presidential mansion in his nightshirt, dropping a purse on the steps behind him. He is pursued by the specter of a winged barrel of hard cider with the head of Harrison. Van Buren speaks in quasi-Shakespearean verse: Oh I have had a dream so horrible, Twould make the wiry stubble of your head -- Stand stiff as cabbage stalks in frozen field! Methought, whilst slumbering in my chair of state, My custom always of an afternoon, a cider barrel Rose from out the earth, and, nearly simultaneous, A horrid engine like unto a cider press; Within which press, by some invisible hand, I felt myself impelled! Oh then, methought, What pain it are to smash! and how intolerable -- Our sufferings is! as I my vital juices did pour forth. Anon a legion of foul fiends in shape Of cider barrels, did environ me, and one, With head resembling an old hero, Screamed in my ears "Remember March the 4th & Harrison", But ha! that form and voice again! See how he beckons me! I must absquatulate! March 4 was at that time the traditional inauguration day. For another use of the curious term "absquatulate" (also "absquabulate") see James Akin's "The Little Magician's Sleight of Hand Performance" (no. 1840-40). In the street Van Buren encounters two startled allies, Senators John Calhoun and Thomas Hart Benton. Calhoun exclaims, also in verse: My liege what dreadful vision has, In the lone dreary hour of night,Thus harrowed and unstrung your royal nerves? Benton, peering through his monocle, says: My liege this is the very coinage of your brain! I see no cider barrel fiend nor aught Save these few mint drops from your highness purse No doubt escaped which I within the folds of my cravat Will keep secured. The "mint drops" to which Benton refers are the coins which spill from Van Buren's purse. This is a double reference to the perennial Whig charge of corruption of the Democratic administration and to Benton's bullionist championing of hard money fiscal policy. The verse sounds Shakespearean and, given the supernatural subject matter, may allude to "MacBeth" or "Hamlet. For example, when Hamlet first meets his father's ghost in Act 1, Scene 5, the ghost says, "I could a tale unfold whose lightest word would harrow up thy soul . . . and each particular hair to stand an end, Like quills upon the fretful porpentine." Based on the subject, Weitenkampf dates "Matty's Dream" 1841. The Whigs were victorious in the 1840 election but, like "Notice to Quit" (no. 1840-59) the print represents confident but premature hopes on the artist's part, rather than post-election gloating. As the Library's impression shows, the print was deposited for copyright on August 26, 1840. "Price 25 Cents" is printed in the margin of the print.|Entered . . . 1848 by J. Childs.|Published by John Childs, no. 90 Nassau St. New York.|Signed with monogram: EWC (Edward Williams Clay).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Davison, no. 145.|Weitenkampf, p. 70.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1840-54.

When it comes to the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve has a very important role to play. Whether you realize it or not, its decisions affect you. In this episode of The Economic Lowdown podcast series, you’ll learn about how the Federal Reserve uses monetary policy to influence the economy.

Inflation, unemployment, recession, economic growth—these economic concepts affect people in very real ways. In this course containing three interactive, thought-provoking lessons, you will learn about monetary policy, the avenue by which the Federal Reserve System attempts to influence the economy.

In this 6 minute video, a scenario is presented to students who act as members of the FED and must make decisions related to monetary policy. A scenario is presented and then outcome impacts are discussed. This video will aid in the mastery of standard EPF. 4 and 7

This short video describes the use of the interest rate on bank reserves as a tool of monetary policy.

Monetary policy is the use of the money supply to affect key macroeconomic variables, such as real GDP. This video focuses on how a central bank can use open market operations and reserve requirements to enact monetary policy to close output gaps.

They say that "money makes the world go round." Just imagine a world without money as our method of payment for everyday transactions. Without money, we would all need to barter for necessary goods and services. For example, suppose an accountant needs to have her car fixed. Under a barter system, she would have to find someone who needed some tax advice in exchange for car repairs. The search to find a barter partner is time consuming and wasteful. Money solves this problem and many others. Read more about the three main functions of money and the damaging effects of too much inflation on these functions in the March 2013 issue.

The Federal Reserve conducts the nation’s monetary policy to promote maximum employment and price stability through the federal funds rate. The May 2019 issue of Page One Economics reviews the previous framework for monetary policy, and then describes the Federal Reserve’s new strategy for influencing the federal funds rate and the broader economy.

The artist forecasts with obvious relish the ouster of Van Buren and his cronies from office by William Henry Harrison. Van Buren is shown leaving Washington in a large cart drawn by supporters (left to right) Thomas Hart Benton, Levi Woodbury, and John C. Calhoun, and pushed from behind by Francis Preston Blair. The cart is piled high with a large sphere marked "Solitary and Alone," an issue of Blair's newspaper the "Globe," a box of "Mint Drops," and a throne, scepter, and crown. Tied beneath the cart are several dogs marked "Cuba," referring to the administration's controversial use of Cuban bloodhounds against the Seminoles in Florida. (See "The Secretary of War" and "A Bivouack in Safety," nos. 1840-5 and -6.) Henry Clay (on the White House steps at right) presents Van Buren with a "notice to quit" and holds a large key in his left hand. Behind him stands William Henry Harrison. Van Buren: "Push a head Blair, let's get out of this ungrateful City. This is the reward of all my patriotic service." Blair: "Hard work to get out of this City Globe and all but go we must." Benton: "Take care of my 'mint drops' we shall want them in Missouri." "Mint drops" was a colloquialism for gold coins, referring to bullionist Benton's advocacy of a high ratio of gold to silver in circulation. Calhoun: "It's a heavy car to draw Mr. Secretary." Woodbury: Yes--but we have notice to quit and must carry off all we can." Harrison: "Softly, don't hurry the Gentleman. See him safe to his farm. Take care of his moveables." Clay: "He has fairly carried off the spoils General."|Printed & published by H.R. Robinson, no. 52 Cortlandt St. N.Y.|Signed: HD (Henry Dacre?).|Title appears as it is written on the item.|Lorant, p. 159, 175.|Weitenkampf, p. 60-61.|Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)|Published in: American political prints, 1766-1876 / Bernard F. Reilly. Boston : G.K. Hall, 1991, entry 1840-37.

This course provides an overview of the following macroeconomic issues: the determination of output, employment, unemployment, interest rates, and inflation. Monetary and fiscal policies are discussed, as are public debt and international economic issues. This course also introduces basic models of macroeconomics and illustrates principles with the experience of the United States and other economies.