Excel Spreadsheet Q in class

An the excel spreadsheet was given , in which a level of income was given, and from this income some is saved . This is the withdrawal row. In a closed economy, injections always equal withdrawals. There also was a randomly allocated investment. It was required that we balanced the system, so we set the withdrawal level to make the level of income equal to the level of aggregate expenditure, which is just a sum of the other rows. To do this we had to work out the marginal propensity to consume, this is calculated by dividing the change in consumption by the change in income and if it was say, 0.8, then you'd set 30% of your income towards withdrawals to get the system close to equilibrium. Aggregate expenditure is the sum of income, consumption and injections, less withdrawals. To balance the system, one adjusts the withdrawals figure until income equals aggregate expenditure.

Q2

Q.2 Write out an explanation for each row.

Consumption – Consumers buy products with their income (-Cd) . Producers produce what is demanded and are paid (+Cs) for this.

Government Expenditure – The government buys goods/services (-Gd). Producers get the money in return for producing what is demanded (+Gd).

Output – This is all money spent on goods/services and is seen to be the total production of an economy.

Factor Income – Producers need a labour force to produce goods/services. This costs
(-W.Ns).The labour is provided by households who earn (+W.Ns).

Taxes – Households are charged taxes by the government (-Td) while the government receives this in order redistribute it for the public benefit.(+Td).

Change in money stock – Households will not always immediately spend but will save money which they may use to buy financial assets (- change Hh). . By the Government providing these financial assets they receive additional income to what to get in taxes. (+ change Hs)

Consumption Function

Definition:

Keynes devised this function to state consumer spending as one term. It is shown as a linear function and explains how consumption expenditure depends on the level of income. The consumption function shows that what people spend depends on their income, and that as income increases, so does consumption.

C = a + mpc * Y

Where
c = total consumption

a = autonomous consumption i.e. consumption when income is zero so therefore it is consumption which is not influenced by current income.

mpc = the marginal propensity to consume i.e. the rate at which consumption is changing when income changes.

Y=disposable income

Note also that mpc * Y is induced consumption , i.e. consumption influenced by the economy’s income level.

The concept revolves around the fact that a consumer’s expenditure depends on his or her disposable income. Real income is money income adjusted for inflation. It is a measure of the quantity of goods and services that consumers have buy with their income.
·There is normally a positive relationship between disposable income and consumer spending. This fraction of additional income that people spend is called the marginal propensity to consume. MPC = (change in consumption) divided by (change in income)The gradient of the consumption curve gives the marginal propensity to consume. As income rises, so does total consumer demand.
· A change in the marginal propensity to consume causes a pivotal change in the consumption function. In this case the marginal propensity to consume has fallen leading to a fall in consumption at each level of income.

The Keynesian consumption function is based on current income only and does not consider future income . Therefore extensions of this theory are Friedman's permanent income hypothesis and Modigliani's life cycle hypothesis.

Example:
An increase of disposable income could result in higher level of consumer expenditure. Also, the level of consumption depends on the change in MPC. As the MPC goes up, the consumption will increase.

References:
www.businessdictionary.com
www.tutor2u.net/economics/content
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumption_function
http://www.ingrimayne.com/econ/Keynes/SimpleModel.html

Problem 1. Defining terms and characterising them as Income, Expenditure or Output

Wages – Periodic payments for labour
Employer’s view – expenditure
Employee’s view – Income

Consumption – household expenditure on goods and services for a specific period
Expenditure

Rent – periodic expenditure for the use of capital assets
Landlord/Asset owner – Income
Tenant/Lessee – expenditure

Government Expenditure – expenditure of a day-to-day nature by a Government
Expenditure

Manufacturing Output - the output from labour and capital
Output

Interest Payments – The cost of borrowing
Bank – Income
Borrower – Expenditure

Loans – a sum of money given or received at an agreed rate of interest
Issuer – Income
Borrower - Expenditure

Bank Deposits – cash savings held at a bank
Bank – Income

Bonds – A guaranteed loan made from a country or company with or without coupon payments.
Issuer – Expenditure
Borrower – Income

Equities – capital investment in companies
Issuer – Income
Borrower – Expenditure

Money Balance – How much money/wealth in the form of readily available purchasing power – consumers and firms actually hold at a given moment.
Output

Chapter 7. The Meaning of Saving & Investment Further Considered

I
Saving and Investment are defined as equal in amount. Investment, defined includes the increase of capital equipment, whether it consists of fixed capital, working capital or liquid capital.

II
Hawtrey suggests that an excess of saving over investment would be the same as an increase in liquid capital. Keynes prefers to emphasise the total change of effective demand and not just the changes in liquid capital i.e. unsold stocks in the previous period as Mr. Hawtrey does. Hawtrey’s method in the case of fixed capital ignores that changes in unused capacity corresponds to changes in unsold stocks, which effects decision to produce. Keynes makes reference to the vagueness of capital consumption and capital formation used by the Austrian School of Economists and says they are not identical to his definition of investment and disinvestment (disinvestment - sale of an investment as being negative investment).

III
Keynes acknowledges that his new argument is much better than his argument in Treatise on Money where he didn’t distinguish clearly between expected and realised results. Keynes new argument is that the expectation of an increased excess of investment over saving, given a volume of employment and output will lead entrepreneurs to increase the volume of employment and output. Any changes in the expected levels of investment over saving will motivate firms to raise the volume of employment and production. Therefore the volume of employment is determined by expected demand or an expected increase of investment over saving.

Robertson proposes an alternative attempt at defining saving and investment. From his definition an excess of saving is exactly equal to the decline of income in Keynes sense.

IV
The definition of “forced saving” is a measure of changes in the quantity of money or bank-credit and consequently it is found that “forced saving” has no distinct relationship to the difference between investment and saving. However it is difficult to distinguish between “forced saving” and any other changes in saving unless the amount saved in certain given conditions is given as a standard. “Forced saving” needs a specified standard rate of saving, for example - full employment.

V
Keynes emphasises that investment and saving are a two-sided transaction. People exercise their ‘free choice’ as to the proportion in which they divide their increase of income between saving and spending. The aggregate saving of an individual and of others taken together must be equal to the amount of current new investment.

Keynes elucidates three effects of credit:
1. increasing output.
2. marginal returns on that output increasing.
3. rising wages.
These may affect the distribution of real income between different groups.
Keynes concludes that the old-fashioned view that saving always involves investment is formally sounder that the view, that there can be saving without investment or investment without saving.

The mistake people make is thinking that when an individual saves, he will increase aggregate investment by an equal amount. It is true that when an individual saves he increases his own wealth but the conclusion that he also increases aggregate wealth fails to allow for the possibility that an act of individual saving may react on someone else’s saving and hence on someone’s else’s wealth.

Therefore incomes and prices change until the aggregate amount of money that individuals choose to hold at the new level of incomes and prices is equal to the amount of money created by the banking system.

This is the fundamental proposition of monetary theory. There cannot be a buyer without a seller or a seller without a buyer.

Summary of Chapter 6. The Definition of Income, Saving and Investment

I
Income is output sold to others for a certain sum A, which consists of an amount A1 (purchase of finished output from others) and G (working capital).

Keynes states it is not suffice to say income equals A+G-A1. Part of A + G - A1 is due to the capital equipment from the previous period. To determine income from the current period there are two possible methods identified, one in relation to production, the other in connection with consumption

1. If the capital equipment had never been used an amount would be spent on maintaining it (B1). G will now be worth G1. Therefore G1-B1 is the value saved had the equipment not been used to produce A. The excess of this value over G-A1 is what has been sacrificed to produce A. This is the user cost of A. This plus the amount paid out by the entrepreneur to other factors of production is the factor cost of A. The sum of both the factor cost and the user cost is the prime cost of A. Therefore income is the excess of the value of finished output over prime cost, which is equal to the quantity the entrepreneur attempts to maximise. Since the income of the rest of the community equals the entrepreneurs factor cost, aggregate income equals (A-U).

Keynes adds for the community as a whole, the aggregate consumption (C) of the period is equal to sum of (A – A1) and aggregate investment (I) is equal to sum of (A1 – U).

2. Secondly the involuntary loss or gain in the value of his capital equipment is examined. These losses often are unavoidable but possibly not unexpected. Keynes defines Supplementary Cost (V) is the excess of the expected depreciation over user cost (U). This cost is deducted from income and gross profit to calculate net income and net profit. However there is also the change in the value of the equipment due to unforeseen changes in market values or extraordinary events. It is called a ‘Windfall Loss’ which is ignored in calculating net income.

The amount of supplementary costs and the amount of windfall loss/gain made on the capital account affects net income. Estimating supplementary costs depends on the choice of accounting method. It can be fixed from the outset or it can be recalculated annually.
Keynes states net-income is not clear. He discards his definition of income in the Treatise on Money. The new definition of net income comes very close to Marshall’s definition of Income and it also corresponds to the money value of Pigou’s definition of the National Dividend.

II
Saving is the excess of income over consumption expenditure. (A1 – U) and net saving for the excess of net income over consumption is equal to A1 – U – V.

Keynes uses his definition of income to lead on to his definition of current investment. The part of income, which has not passed into consumption, is investment. During the same period finished output having a value of A – A1 will have passed into consumption and A1 – U is the addition to capital equipment as a result of the productive activities of the period and is therefore the investment of the period. Similarly A1 – U – V is the net investment of the period.

To summarise;
Income = Value of output = Consumption + Investment
Saving = Income – Consumption
Therefore Saving = Investment

Equilibrium in the market is decided by the free choice of individuals, as it is the amount saving individual decides to save which is equal to the aggregate amount which investing individuals decide to invest.