Web-Based Questions


1			U.S. ECONOMIC GROWTH—WHAT ARE THE LATEST RATES? Go to the Bureau of Economic Analysis Web site, http://www.bea.gov, and use the data interactivity feature to find National Income and Product Account Table 1.1. What are the quarterly growth rates (annualized) for the U.S. economy for the last six quarters? Is the average of those rates above or below the long-run U.S. annual growth rate of 3.5 percent? Expand the range of years, if necessary, to find the last time real GDP declined in two or more successive quarters. What were those quarters?




2			WHAT'S UP WITH PRODUCTIVITY? Visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site, http://www.bls.gov. In sequence, select Productivity and Costs, Get Detailed Statistics, and Most Requested Statistics to find quarterly growth rates (annualized) for business output per hour for the last six quarters. Is the average of those rates higher or lower than the 1.4 percent average annual growth rate of productivity during the 1973–1995 period?




3			PRODUCTIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY—EXAMPLES OF INNOVATIONS IN COMPUTERS AND COMMUNICATIONS Recent innovations in computers and communications technologies are increasing productivity. Lucent Technologies (formerly Bell Labs), at http://www.lucent.com/minds/discoveries, provides a timeline of company innovations over the past 80 years. Cite five technological "home runs" (for example, the transistor in 1947) and five technological "singles" (for example, free space optical switching in 1990). Which single innovation do you think has increased productivity the most? List two innovations since 1990. How might they boost productivity?

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