Question

56. Over time, the flattening and shifting inward of the traditional Phillips Curve suggests that: (a) the relationship between inflation and unemployment is stronger than ever; (b) a 1% change in the inflation is now associated with smaller changes than before in the unemployment rate; (c) every unemployment rate is now associated with a lower inflation rate than previously; (d) the U.S. now has an R* much higher than 1%.

57. According to the modern Phillips Curve, current inflation statistically is the summation of: (a) the real inflation rate and inflation expectations; (b) the previous period’s inflation and the product of short-run real economic growth and the sensitivity of inflation to it; (c) productivity growth and growth in the labor force; (d) labor compensation and productivity growth.

58. Almost always, the normal Treasury yield curve tends to: (a) be unaffected by monetary policy; (b) be monotonically upward sloping; (c) demonstrate that as time to maturity increases, expected yields tend to decline: (d) be affected by inflation expectations.

59. All things remaining the same, the yield on a five-year Treasury note can be expected to revert to which level? (a) the Fed’s 2% inflation target; (b) the level of inflation expectations over a 5-year period; (c) the average expected yield on Treasury securities 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years from maturity; (d) the S&P 500 dividend yield.

60. Which of the following is NOT a lesson to draw from the work of the Federal Reserve under Chairman Volcker when combatting stagflation? (a) fiscal policy is a critical complement to monetary policy when fighting high inflation rates; (b) choking off the supply of bank reserves can strangle money supply growth; (c) the process of strangling money supply growth reduces inflation expectations and eventually brings down long-term interest rates; (d) lower long-term interest rates would help to stimulate demand for the most interest-rate sensitive components of the economy.

61. In response both to Great Financial Crisis and the Covid-19 Crisis, the Federal Reserve: (a) performed reverse repurchase agreements daily; (b) engaged in permanent open market operations that expanded the Fed’s asset holdings; (c) sold Treasury securities and sold mortgage-backed securities; (d) increased its federal funds target range to between 2.00% and 2.25%.

Answer 1

For Ans1; option 'b' is correct. because a flatter curve suggests that the economical activities have less effect on inflation.

For ans2; option 'b' is correct because modern philips curve means that current inflation is affected by the lagged inflation, the expected future inflation and a measure of aggregate marginal cost.

For ans3, option 'b' is correct as normal yield curve suggests that short-term rate of interest is usually lower than long-term rates.

For ans4, option 'c' is correct.