In the 1980s, the dangerous Ebola virus entered the United States through contaminated monkeys that were imported for use in medical experiments. Suppose this virus had not been contained but had spread to the general population. Assume that the virus is lethal in half of the people who are exposed to it. Describe the resulting effect on labor productivity
There are two possible direct effects: One effect would be that people would be absent from work if they caught the virus (but did not die) and so marginal productivity would be higher for the remaining workers. The other effect is that people who caught the virus would die, the labor supply would decrease, and the remaining workers would have a higher marginal product of labor. While the marginal productivity of the remaining workers increases, total output would still fall.
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When the Fed lowers the discount rate, it:
a. lowers the cost of borrowing from the Fed, encouraging banks to make loans to the general public. b. raises the cost of borrowing from the Fed, discouraging banks from making loans to the general public. c. increases the amount of excess reserves that banks hold, encouraging them to make loans to the general public. d. increases the amount of excess reserves that banks hold, discouraging them from making loans to the general public. e. decreases the amount of excess reserves that banks hold, discouraging them from making loans to the general public.
The price index for the base year is always 100
a. True b. False Indicate whether the statement is true or false