Problems

why not? 27 . Describe some of the political and social tradeoffs that might occur when a less developed country adopts a strategy to promote labor force participation and economic growth via investment in girls’ education. 28 . Why is investing in girls’ education beneficial for growth? 29 . How is the concept of technology, as defined with the aggregate production function, different from our everyday use of the word? 30 . What sorts of policies can governments implement to encourage convergence? 31 . As technological change makes us more sedentary and food costs increase, obesity is likely. What factors do you think may limit obesity?

Problems

32 . An economy starts off with a GDP per capita of $5,000. How large will the GDP per capita be if it grows at an annual rate of 2% for 20 years? 2% for 40 years? 4% for 40 years? 6% for 40 years? 33 . An economy starts off with a GDP per capita of 12,000 euros. How large will the GDP per capita be if it grows at an annual rate of 3% for 10 years? 3% for 30 years? 6% for 30 years? 34 . Say that the average worker in Canada has a productivity level of $30 per hour while the average worker in the United Kingdom has a productivity level of $25 per hour (both measured in U.S. dollars). Over the next five years, say that worker productivity in Canada grows at 1% per year while worker productivity in the UK grows 3% per year. After five years, who will have the higher productivity level, and by how much? 35 . Say that the average worker in the U.S. economy is eight times as productive as an average worker in Mexico. If the productivity of U.S. workers grows at 2% for 25 years and the productivity of Mexico’s workers grows at 6% for 25 years, which country will have higher worker productivity at that point?

FIGURE 8.1Replaced by Robots Robots are replacing the jobs historically done by workers in a bread factory. (Credit: modification of "Factory Automation Robotics Palettizing Bread" by KUKA Roboter GmbH/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

In this chapter, you will learn about:

• How Economists Define and Compute Unemployment Rate
• Patterns of Unemployment
• What Causes Changes in Unemployment over the Short Run
• What Causes Changes in Unemployment over the Long Run

BRING IT HOME Unemployment and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Complicated Story It was the most abrupt economic change in the post-World War II era. Between March 2020 and April 2020, the U.S. unemployment rate increased from 4.4% to 14.8%. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people were left without work as businesses shut down and people stayed home and cut their spending, especially on restaurants, tourism, and travel. As confidence and spending were slowly restored, and as the situation with the virus steadily improved, unemployment began to tick down. By 2022, with the availability of vaccines and boosters and other improved health measures, things were better still, but the presence of dangerous variants prevented a full return to normal. The COVID-19 pandemic had other effects on the labor market as well. Labor force participation—the rate at which