1. Recessions: 20 points
A. What is the full name of the body that dates the business cycles (that is establishes the dates of the
peak and trough of the business cycles)? Chapter 10. 5 points
B. Please go to https://www.nber.org/research/data/us-business-cycle-expansions-and-contractions
What are the dates of the recessions in the U.S. since 1971? In other words, what is the peak (month and
year), trough (month and year), and duration in months of each of the recessions? Please write the dates of
the 7 recessions referring to the recession names below. I have done the Great Depression for you.
According to the NBER, when did the Corona Virus recession start? 15 points.
0) The Great Depression: August 1929 to March 1933: 43 months
First Oil shock
Second Oil shock
Textbook Recession: Monetary policy contraction
1991 Gulf War recession
2001 “dot.com bust” recession + 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks on the twin towers
2008 Recession: The Great Recession
Corona Virus Recession
(Corona virus disease started in December 2019 and is abbreviated as COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’
stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease.)
2. (Total 20 points) Unemployment Rates Please go to FRED Federal Reserve Economic Data.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/
A. Please get the graph of the monthly civilian unemployment rate (UNRATE) seasonally adjusted for the
entire time period. The shaded areas indicate the recessions. Download to PowerPoint or copy and paste
the graph on your word document. Provide a caption for the graph like this: Figure 1: Seasonally Adjusted
Unemployment Rate in the U.S. from year ? – ? year. Source: should be under the graph and should be
cited the way FRED says to cite it under suggested citation. 5 points. POINTS WILL BE SUBTRACTED
FOR NOT following the above instructions.
B. Please refer to your answer to Question 1B for the dates of the 7 recessions, not counting the Great
Depression. Use your graph on the FRED website and hover your mouse to the peaks of the
unemployment rates or look at the numbers (download/view data) and please answer the following:
What were the highest unemployment rates in each of the 7 recessions? Give me the highest during that
recession. If the highest unemployment rate occurs after the recession officially ends, please use that
highest number and give me that month/year. 15 points You may write the unemployment rates associated
with the following names of the recessions, using the example I gave for the Great Depression.
0) The Great Depression: 25.6% in May 1933
First Oil shock
Second Oil shock
Textbook Recession: Monetary policy contraction
1991 Gulf War recession
2001 dot.com bust recession + terrorist attacks
2008 Recession
Corona Virus Recession
3. (Total 20 points) Please get the inflation rate graph from FRED using the variable FPCPITOTLZGUSA.
Label the graph as Figure 2 and indicate the source just like you did for Question 2A. 5 points
A. Which of the above-mentioned recessions (excluding the Great Depression) are most clearly associated
with an increase in the inflation rate as you see two major spikes in inflation? What was the cause of the
increase in the inflation rate in these two cases? Use the AD, SRAS, LRAS model and show what curve
shifted and in what direction. You can draw on paper and paste your picture. 5 points
B. Which one of the above recessions (excluding the Great Depression) was caused by a fall in AD? 5
points (Hint: the 2008 Recession). Why did AD shift left? C. Do you see any difference between supply-shock induced recessions and “decrease-in-demand”
induced recessions? 5 points
4. (Total 20 points) Please go to FRED and get a graph of the Effective Federal Funds Rate (FEDFUNDS).
A. Please Label it as Figure 3 and cite the source like you did in the previous figures. 5 points
B. Do you think the Federal Reserve (The Fed) contributed to The 2008 Great Recession? If so, how? Hint:
see class lecture for Ch 15 towards the end and study guide. 15 points
5. (Total 20 points) Economic Policy in 2008 and COVID19
A. What are the two main types of economic policy? Who/what agency conducts each policy? The two
main types of economic policy are _____________ policy and _____________ policy. ___________ policy
is conducted by the ______________. ___________ policy is conducted by ______________. 5 points
B. What are the monetary and fiscal policies used to fight the COVID19 Recession? 10 points
When relevant, please refer and compare with the 2008 recession. See study guide and textbook. USE
NUMBERS. This will not be plagiarism!
Hints:
2008 recession: Fiscal policy: President Obama’s Fiscal stimulus package American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act. Monetary Policy: Ben Bernanke was Fed chair. The Fed conducted 3 massive rounds of
QE Quantitative Easing and Operation Twist
COVID 19 Recession: See study guide. Mention the name of the Fed Chair, Jerome Powell for monetary
policy and President Trump CARES act for fiscal policy.
C. Considering all the fiscal and monetary intervention in the COVID19 Recession, which recession will be
the longest when you look at the duration you listed in months for Q1B. 5 points