Answer to Question 1:

It is possible for the authorities in the big country to increase the world real interest rate without affecting output and employment even in the short run. They must

1. expand the money supply and tighten fiscal policy.

2. expand fiscal policy and leave monetary policy unchanged.

3. expand fiscal policy and appropriately reduce the money supply.

4. tighten monetary policy.

Choose the correct option.


The correct option is option 3. Fiscal expansion will shift the long-run equilibrium real interest rate up. But this will increase output and employment in the short-run if the money supply remains unchanged. To prevent output from increasing the government must contract the money supply by just enough to force the  LM  curve through the intersection of the new  IS  curve and the vertical full-employment line. This is easier said than done in practice because, as will be recalled from the earlier Fiscal Policy lesson, it is difficult to determine how big the impact of various fiscal measures will be. And, of course, the authorities cannot observe the positions and slopes of the  IS  and  LM  curves in the way that we can present them theoretically.

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