Question

1) Decide whether you would expect relationship between the following pairs of dependent and independent variables (respectively) to be positive, negative, or ambiguous. Explain your reasoning. a. Aggregate net investment in the United States in a given year and GDP in that year. b. The number of acres of wheat planted in a season and the price of wheat at the beginning of that season. c. Aggregate net investment and the real rate of interest in the same year and country. d. The quantity of canned tuna demanded and the real price of a can of tuna. e. The growth rate of GDP in a year and the average hair length in that year.

Answer 1

(a) GDP is a dependent variable and aggregate net investment is a independent variable. There is a positive relationship between the variables which means that an increase in the net investment will lead to increase GDP.

(b) There is a negative relationship between the variables which means that as the supply of wheat increases, as a result price of wheat falls. So, as the number of acres of wheat planted in a season increases as a result price of wheat decline.

(c) There is a negative relationship between the variables which means that an increase in the interest rate in an economy will lead to increase the cost of borrowings and hence, net investment falls.

(d) There is a negative relationship between the variables because of the law of demand. It states that an increase in the price of a commodity will lead to reduce the quantity demanded for that commodity.

(e) There is no relationship between these variables. Both the variables are totally uncorrelated.