What is inverse dependency ratio? What does it mean for future worker productivity?
What will be an ideal response?
The inverse dependency ratio is the number of people working age (ages 20 to 64) divided by the number of dependents (seniors over the age of 65 and youths under the age of 20). In the United States this ratio is expected to fall from 1.5 working per dependent in 2010 to 1.16 in 2050. This fall in workers means the number of hours worked will decrease. To maintain economic growth worker productivity will have to increase to meet the shrinking working population. The inverse dependency ratio does not only influence economic growth, but it will also have an effect on Social Security and other social programs.
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The implied growth rate for a country between 1960 and 2010 is 6%. This implies that:
A) the country needed to grow at an average rate of 6% per year between 1960 and 2010 to reach the 2010 level of GDP starting with the 1960 level. B) the country needed to grow by at least 6% in any of the fifty years between 1960 to 2010 to reach the level of GDP in 2010 starting with the 1960 level. C) the growth rate of GDP in the country was above 6% between 1960 to 1990 and above 6% between 1991 and 2010. D) the country needed to grow at rates above 6% per year between 1960 and 2010 to reach the 2010 level of GDP starting from the 1960 level.
The main effect of a decrease in labor demand that arises from a decrease in capital stock is
A) lower real wages. B) shifts in unemployment. C) a need for fewer immigrant workers. D) companies make fewer profits.
Refer to Table 17-2. The marginal profit from hiring the second unit of labor is
A) $4,200. B) $1,960. C) $1,800. D) $1,450.
Suppose the typical consumer buys more bananas than oranges. In fixing the basket of goods and services for the purpose of calculating the consumer price index, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
a. ignores the fact that the typical consumer buys more bananas than orange; this procedure does not affect the value of the index. b. ignores the fact that the typical consumer buys more bananas than orange; this procedure results in a potentially-serious bias in the index. c. places more weight on the price of bananas than on the price of oranges; the weights of the two prices are determined by surveying consumers. d. places more weight on the price of bananas than on the price of oranges; the weights of the two prices are determined by the extent to which those prices have changed over the previous year.