Week 8 Assignment 2
Dr.Chinwe E. Nweke
ECO100089VA016-1128-001 Principles of Economics
December 2, 2012

1. Analyze the current economic situation in the U.S. as compared to five (5) years ago. Include interest rates, inflation, and unemployment in your analysis. The news informs everyone on a daily basis that the United States has the largest economy and that it is looking to be in great shape since four years ago. To some Americans it seems otherwise. The unemployment rate in 2007 was 4.6% compared to unemployment rate in 2012 at 7.5%. The U.S inflation rate ended in October 2012 after twelve months was 2.16% which is 0.11% higher than the one in September. The U.S inflation forecast consists of apparel, education and communication, energy, food and beverages, housing, medical care, recreation, and transportation. The U.S Government’s inflation economics policy tries to control inflation. High inflation and negative inflation (deflation) can have damaging effects on the economy. 2. Propose two (2) strategies that the federal government could implement that would encourage people to spend more money in order to create employment opportunities. Two strategies that the federal government could implement that would encourage people to spend more money in order to create employment opportunities is to give free college training to low income and unemployed. This would allow them to get paid for going to school or training. It would also provide an automatic job after training. By providing the free college training to low income and the unemployed would not stop consumer spending and would encourage people to continue to spend money. 3. Identify a situation in the past 50 years in which the government used antitrust policies to stop a monopoly from occurring. Include the circumstances of the proposed monopoly and the reason the government stepped in.