ECO/372 ECO372 ECO 372 Week 2 Individual Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Paper

ECO 372 Week 2 Individual Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Paper

Macro Economics is a study which is concerned with the economy as a whole and the level of total output which is also referred to as national income is a very important variable in any economy. National income measures the value of an output produced in an economy over a period of time and the policy makers should be aware of the level of economic activity taking place within the country on behalf of the nationals.

One of the most important objectives of the government is to increase the level of the rate of economic growth which is possible only be measuring the national income. The main uses of the national income statistics are:

1. It shows the current allocation of resources,

2. It helps the government in economic planning,

3. It helps measures the country’s standard of living, and

4. It helps in the comparison of the living standard between different countries.

There are some important concepts of National Income such as Gross Domestic Product, Gross National product, net National product and The GDP per capita.

Gross domestic product: “GDP is the total value of all output produced using resources located within the economy over a given period of time”. It refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period (O'Sullivan, Arthur).

GDP measures the annual value of all economic activity taking place within the economy and the GDP measures are on a value added basis in order to avoid the problem of double counting. There are three ways of calculating the GDP but the results of all the three methods should be the same. They are:

• The Output Method.
• The Income Method.
• The Expenditure Method.

Nominal GDP:  Also known as the money GDP is measured in terms of the prices operating in the year in which the output is produced. it is sometimes referred to as GDP at market prices. It can give a wrong impression about the performance of the economy, because of the changes in the value of money which depends on the price level, which is subject to changes. Normally the Nominal GDP converted into Real GDp which is a measure of adjustment for inflation is used to calculate the National performance. Real GDP therefore is: money GDP/ the price index of the current year X Price index of the base year or money GDP/ GDP deflator of the current year X Price index of the base year (HM Treasury, Background information on GDP and GDP deflator).

Unemployment rate: Employment is the total number of people with a job which includes the employees, businessmen and self employed people. The number employed may change over time due to many factors. While unemployment refers to those people who have registered, able, available and willing to work at the going wage rate at any suitable job but cannot find employment. Unemployment is measured at a point of time and the level of unemployment changes over time.

The number unemployed refers to the number of people of working age, who are without job but are available for work at the current wage rates...