Economics (McConnell), 18th Edition

U.S. ECONOMIC GROWTH—WHAT ARE THE LATEST RATES? Go to the Bureau of Economic Analysis Web site, www.bea.gov . Click on Interactive Data Tables, then National Income and Product Accounts, and then Frequently Requested NIPA Tables to get to Table 1.1.1. 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?

WHAT'S UP WITH PRODUCTIVITY? Visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics Web site, www.bls.gov. In sequence, select Productivity and Costs, Get Detailed Productivity and Cost Statistics, and then Major Sector Productivity and Costs (which is listed under the heading 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?

PRODUCTIVITY AND TECHNOLOGY—EXAMPLES OF INNOVATIONS Recent innovations are increasing productivity. Go to the Timeline of Historic Inventions at www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_invention. Scroll down until you find the inventions made starting in the 1940s. Look at them and later inventions. Cite five technological "home runs" (for example, the transistor in 1947) and five technological "singles" (for example, the personal stereo in 1977). Which one innovation do you think has increased productivity the most? List two innovations since 1990. How might they have boosted productivity?