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Inflation and the Business Cycle

Inflation and the Business Cycle. Module 14-15. When you have completed your study of this chapter, you will be able to. 1. 2. 3. Chapter Checklist. Explain what the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is and how it is calculated.

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Inflation and the Business Cycle

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  1. Inflation and the Business Cycle • Module 14-15

  2. When you have completed your study of this chapter, you will be able to 1 2 3 Chapter Checklist • Explain what the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is and how it is calculated. Explain the limitations of the CPI as a measure of the cost of living. • Adjust money values for inflation and calculate real wage rates and real interest rates.

  3. Inflation An upward movement in the average level of prices Deflation A downward movement in the average level of prices Inflation

  4. Purchasing Power The value of money for buying goods and services Varies with prices and income Disposable Income *During inflation purchasing power of a dollar falls *During deflation purchasing power of a dollar rises Inflation

  5. Nominal Value Price expressed in today’s dollars Real Value Varies with the rate of inflation Value expressed in purchasing power which varies with inflation Inflation

  6. Question Is a 30 second ad during the Super Bowl really 85 times more expensive today ($4.25 million) compared to 1967 ($50,000)? Inflation

  7. Answer Depends on what has happened to the price level and the size of the audience during this time Prices: Fourfold increase Audience: Doubled Inflation

  8. Analysis Adjusting for viewership and inflation the cost per viewer is less than four times what it was in 1967 -- not 25 times. Inflation

  9. Inflation • Inflation- Measured by computing a price index which is defined as the cost of a market basket today, expressed as a percentage of the cost of that market basket in some starting or base year. • In the base year the price index is always equal to 100. Inflation is measured by the rise in a price index. • Base year chosen as a point of reference for comparison.

  10. THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX • Consumer Price Index (CPI) • A measure of the average of the prices paid by urban consumers for a fixed market basket of consumer goods and services (final products).

  11. Inflation • Market Basket • Representative bundle of goods and services • Reference Base Year (Period) • The point of reference for comparison of prices in other year. • A period for which the CPI is defined to equal 100. Currently, the reference base period is 19821984.

  12. THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX • In May 2005, the CPI was 194.4. • The average of the prices paid by urban consumers for a fixed market basket of consumer goods and services was 94.4 percent higher in May 2005 than it was on the average during 19821984. • In April 2005, the CPI was 194.6. • The average of the prices paid by urban consumers for a fixed market basket of consumer goods and services decreased by 0.2 of a percentage point in May 2005.

  13. THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX • Constructing the CPI • Three stages: • Selecting the CPI basket • Conducting the monthly price survey • Calculating the CPI

  14. THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX Figure below shows the CPI basket. This shopping cart is filled with the items that an average household buys.

  15. THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX • The Monthly Price Survey • Each month, BLS employees check the prices of the 80,000 goods and services in the CPI basket in 30 metropolitan areas. • BECAUSE the CPI measures price changes, it is IMPORTANT that the prices recorded refer toexactly the same items and quantity.

  16. THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX • Calculating the CPI • The CPI calculation has three steps: • Find the cost of the CPI basket at base period prices. • Find the cost of the CPI basket at current period prices. • Calculate the CPI for the base period and the current period.

  17. THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX Note- Always use the same quantity to determine the CPI for each year. The only thing that is changing is the price.

  18. Cost of CPI basket at current period prices x 100 Cost of CPI basket at base period prices $50 $70 x 100 x 100 = 140 = 100 For 2000, the CPI is: $50 $50 For 2003, the CPI is: THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX CPI = The CPI for the base period is always 100. Always!!! Once we determine the CPI for these years we can now determine the inflation for these years!

  19. CPI in current year  CPI in previous year x 100 Inflation rate = CPI in previous year 140  100 x 100 = 40% percent Inflation rate = 100 Formula for the Rate of Inflation • Measuring Inflation • Inflation rate • The percentage change in the price level from one year to the next. This means there has been a 40% increase in inflation between the previous year and current year. But that is easy because you are working from the base year. Try this!

  20. Formula for the Rate of Inflation Measuring Inflation Inflation rate- CPI for 2002 is 120 and CPI for 2003 is 140 What is the rate of inflation between 2002 and 2003? CPI in current year  CPI in previous year x 100 Inflation rate = CPI in previous year 140  120 x 100 = 16.7 percent Inflation rate = 120 This means there has been a 16.7% increase in inflation between the previous year and current year.

  21. Dollar Figures from Different Times • In 1931, Babe Ruth made $80,000. What is his salary equal to in 2007 dollars. • Need to know the CPI in 1931 and in 2007. • CPI in 1931 is 15.2 • CPI in 2007 is 207 Formula to convert dollar amounts from different times. Amount in today’s dollars Amount in old dollars CPI today CPI in past = X

  22. Dollar Figures from Different Times • In 1931, Babe Ruth made $80,000. What is his salary equal to in 2007 dollars. • Need to know the CPI in 1931 and in 2007. • CPI in 1931 is 15.2 • CPI in 2007 is 207 Formula to convert dollar amounts from different times. 207 15.2 Amount in today’s dollars $80,000 X = Answer is $1,089,474

  23. THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX In part (a), the price level has increased every year. The rate of increase was rapid during the early 1980s and slower during the 1990s.

  24. THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX In part (b), the inflation rate was high during the early 1980s, but low during the 1990s.

  25. THE CPI AND THE COST OF LIVING • Cost of living index • A measure of changes in the amount of money that people would need to spend to achieve a given standard of living. • The CPI does not measure the cost of living because • It does not measure all the components of the cost of living • Some components are not measured exactly • So the CPI is possibly a biased measure.

  26. THE CPI AND THE COST OF LIVING • Sources of Bias (Discrepancies) in the CPI • The potential sources of bias in the CPI are • Goods Evolve/New Good Bias • Quality Differences • Consumer substitutes • Outlet substitution bias

  27. THE CPI AND THE COST OF LIVING • New Goods Bias • What if the market basket base year was from 1912? • New goods do a better job than the old goods that they replace, but cost more. • The arrival of new goods puts an upward bias into the CPI and its measure of the inflation rate. • Quality Change Bias • Better cars and televisions cost more than the versions they replace. • A price rise that is a payment for improved quality is not inflation but might get measured as inflation.

  28. THE CPI AND THE COST OF LIVING • Commodity Substitution Bias • If the price of beef rises faster than the price of chicken, people buy more chicken and less beef. • The CPI basket doesn’t change to allow for the effects of substitution between goods. • Outlet Substitution Bias • If prices rise more rapidly, people use discount stores more frequently. • The CPI basket doesn’t change to allow for the effects of outlet substitution.

  29. THE CPI AND THE COST OF LIVING • The Magnitude of the Bias • The Boskin Commission estimated the bias to be 1.1 percentage points per year. • If the measured inflation rate is 3.1 percent a year, most likely the actual inflation rate is 2.0 percent a year. • To reduce the bias, the BLS has decided to increase the frequency of its Consumer Expenditure Survey and revise the CPI basket every two years. • When the BLS revises the CPI basket, the reference base period does not change.

  30. Cost to Consumers • High Rates of Inflation Impose Economic Costs • Shoe-Leather Costs • Purchasing power of money eroding • Discourages people from holding money in bank accounts or wallets • Many trips to the ATM/bank • Menu Costs • Most items we buy have a listed price • Changing a listed price has a real cost • Businesses update prices intermittently • Unit-of-Account Costs • Role of the dollar as a basis for contracts and calculation of the tax system • Makes money a less reliable unit of measurement

  31. Decreasing Value of the Dollar Since 1970 1970 1985 Today

  32. Inflation • Real World Price Indexes • Producer Price Index (PPI) • A statistical measure of a weighted average or prices of commodities that firms purchase from other firms. Generally for non-retail markets • Used as a leading indicator of the CPI • PPI’s for: • Food materials • Intermediate goods • Finished goods

  33. Inflation • Real World Price Indexes • GDP Deflator • A price index measuring the changes in prices of all new goods and services produced in the economy • Broadest measure • Not based on a fixed market basket, but a survey of a wide variety of goods.

  34. The GDP Deflator • The GDP Deflator: A Better Measure? • In principle, the GDP deflator is not subject to the biases of the CPI because it uses the price change and the public response to those price changes in the basket of goods and services produced in the current year and the preceding year. • In practice, the GDP deflator suffers from some of the CPI’s problems because the Commerce Department does not directly measure the physical quantities of all the goods and services that are produced.

  35. The Consumer Price Index versus the GDP Deflator • The Consumer Price Index compares the price of a fixed basket of goods and services to the price of the basket in the base year (only occasionally does the BLS change the basket)... • …whereas the GDP deflator compares the price of currently produced goods and services to the price of the same goods and services in the base year.

  36. THE CPI AND THE COST OF LIVING The two measures of the inflation rate fluctuate together, but the CPI measure rises more rapidly than the GDP deflator measure. But the price levels get farther apart. Both measures probably overstate the inflation rate.

  37. Inflationary Periodsin U.S. History

  38. NOMINAL AND REAL VALUES • Nominal and Real Values in Macroeconomics • Macroeconomics makes a big issue of the distinction between nominal values and real values: • Nominal GDP and real GDP • Nominal wage rate and real wage rate • Nominal interest rate and real interest rate

  39. NOMINAL AND REAL VALUES • Just because you get an increase in the nominal value, doesn’t mean you are better off than you were before. • We will need to deflate nominal values by the price index to calculate real valuesfor anything- Wages, Income, GDP, etc…

  40. Formula for Real Values Nominal Real X 100 = __________________ Price Index * The price index can be the CPI, PPI, or the GDP Deflator.

  41. NOMINAL AND REAL VALUES • Nominal and Real Wage Rates • Nominal wage rate • The average hourly wage rate measured in current dollars. • Real wage rate • The average hourly wage rate measured in the dollars of a given reference base year. Reflects inflation!

  42. Nominal wage rate in 2002 x 100 Real wage rate in 2002 = CPI in 2002 $14.28 x 100 = $7.93 Real wage rate in June 2002 = 179.9 NOMINAL AND REAL VALUES What is the nominal hourly wage of $14.28 in 2002 worth in 1982-1984 dollars. CPI is 179.9. To calculate the real wage rate, we divide the nominal wage rate by the CPI and multiply by 100. That is, So the $14.28 in the nominal hourly wage in 2002 is worth $7.93 in 19821984 dollars.

  43. 22.3 NOMINAL AND REAL VALUES Figure 22.4 shows nominal and real wage rates: 1975–2005. The nominal wage rate has increased every year since 1975. The real wage rate increased briefly during the late 1970s, decreased through the mid-1990s, and then increased slightly.

  44. Nominal and Real Income • Example: • 2002- Nominal income is $40,000 • 2003- Nominal Income is $41,000 • 2002- CPI 181.6 • 2003- CPI 185 Q. 1- What is my real income for each year? Q. 2- Did my purchasing power increase in 2003? Am I better off in 2003?

  45. Nominal and Real Income • 2002 Real Income= $40,000/181.6 x 100= $22,026 • 2003 Real Income= $41,000/185 x 100= $22,162 • Real income has increased by $136. You are better off in 2003 than in 2002.

  46. Nominal and Real Income • What if your income only increased to $40,500 in 2003. Calculate: 1) Real income for each year. 2) Did your purchasing power increase in 2003?

  47. Nominal and Real Income • 2002 Real Income= $40,000/181.6 x 100= $22,026 • 2003 Real Income= $40,500/185 x 100= $21,891 • Real income has decreased by $135. So even though your nominal income has increased by $500, your real income has decreased by $135.

  48. Inflation • Anticipated Versus Unanticipated Inflation • The effects of inflation on individuals depends upon which type of inflation exists.

  49. Anticipated Inflation • Anticipated Inflation • The rate of inflation that the majority of individuals believe will occur. If the rate of inflation is 10% and that is what the majority expected, then inflation was fully anticipated.

  50. Unanticipated Inflation • Unanticipated Inflation • Inflation that comes as a surprise to individuals in the economy. If people expected an inflation rate of 5% and the actual rate of inflation was 10%, then 5% of the actual inflation rate was unanticipated inflation. • This is the inflation that wreaks havoc on the economy! • Unanticipated inflation hurts many people. When inflation is anticipated some of these people (lenders) are able to protect themselves. • All of this is important when dealing with interest rates!

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