Economics Homework Help

Dear ECON 201 Students:

Now that you’ve spent the last two weeks thinking about the macroeconomics of the current Administration’s policies, it’s time for a change of scenery. Maybe, though, what we have in mind isn’t really a change at all!

As next week we’ll be reviewing international macroeconomics, perhaps it’s appropriate to ask you to think about how the remarkable expansion of U.S. government debt might affect the trajectory of the dollar as well as its role as the world’s reserve currency. (You’ll use FRED this week, by the way, to plot the trajectory of who holds the debt.)

To help you do so, take a look at the two (Week 3) DB readings – the first by Messr. Rogoff (Harvard U.); the second, by Messr. Beckworth (George Mason U.) – posted in the Week 3 Content Module. The short articles outline somewhat contradictory views about the future of the dollar.

So here’s your chance to make your own prediction. Will the world continue to want to purchase U.S. privately and publicly issued debt, and thus supply the necessary financial capital to finance the nation’s annual trade imbalances and maintain the dollar as the world’s reserve currency? Or will America’s “exorbitant privilege” soon come to an end?

In your first paragraph, outline your position. Then, in your second paragraph, review the best arguments against it. Finally, in your third paragraph, explain why your arguments for your position are stronger.

As per our norm, to be eligible to receive full credit for Discussion Board 3, you must make your first post by 23:59 p.m. on Saturday, May 29, and a minimum of two additional commentary posts by the beginning of our fourth class session on Monday, June 1.