5. Explain the difference between final and intermediate goods, and give an example of each.
7. What is the value added by all the firms A–E from the production of a product as described below? What did each firm add separately in value and what does it total?
Stage of production Sales value of product
Firm A $1,600
Firm B 2,500
Firm C 3,700
Firm D 5,200
Firm E 7,600
18. The following is a list of figures for a given year in billions of dollars. Using this data, compute: (a) GDP; (b) NDP; (c) NI; (d) PI; (e) DI; (f) Net exports.
Transfer payments $ 16
Government purchases 80
Personal taxes 38
Corporate income taxes 28
Indirect business taxes 15
Social security contributions 8
Undistributed corporate profits 19
Proprietor’s income 25
Compensation of employees 258
Personal consumption expenditures 322
Consumption of fixed capital 4
Rents 10
U.S. exports 14
Corporate profits 70
Interest 12
Dividends 23
Imports to U.S. 17
Gross private domestic investment 63
Net foreign factor income earned in the U.S. 10
19. Which of the following are included and which are excluded in calculating this year’s GDP? Explain in each instance.
(a) A monthly scholarship check received by an economics student
(b) The purchase of a new corncrib by a farmer
(c) The purchase of a used tractor by a farmer
(d) The cashing in of a savings bond
(e) The services of a mechanic in fixing the radiator in his own car
(f) Social security checks received by a retired person
(g) An increase in business inventories
(h) Government purchase of missiles
(i) A barber’s income
(j) Income received from interest on a corporate bond
(k) Cash received from selling a corporate bond
22. The following table shows the price of a specific stereo receiver for a five-year period. Using year 3 as the base year, calculate the price index for each year.
Year Price Price index
1 $ 88 ___
2 $100 ___
3 $120 ___
4 $132 ___
5 $140 ___
23. The next four questions refer to the following price and output data over a five-year period for an economy that produces only one good. Assume that year 2 is the base year.
Units of Price
Year output per unit
1 16 $2
2 20 3
3 30 4
4 36 5
5 40 6
(a) If year 2 is the base year, give the price index for year 3.
(b) Give the nominal GDP for year 4.
(c) What is the real GDP for year 4?
(d) Tell which years you would deflate nominal GDP and which years you would inflate nominal GDP in finding real GDP.
. 25. The following table shows the price of a specific stereo receiver for a five-year period. Using Year 1 as the base year, calculate the price index for each year.
Year Price Price index
(answers using
Year 1 = 100)
1 $112 ___
2 144 ___
3 160 ___
4 176 ___
5 200 ___
27. The following data show nominal GDP and the appropriate price index for several years. Compute real GDP for each year and indicate whether you have “inflated” or “deflated” nominal GDP in finding real GDP. All GDP are in billions.
Nominal Price level Inflated (I)
Year GDP index Real GDP Deflated (D)
1 $117 120 ___ ___
2 124 104 ___ ___
3 143 85 ___ ___
4 149 96 ___ ___
5 178 112 ___ ___
6 220 143 ___ ___
29. Discuss the merits and demerits of GDP as a measure of the economy’s output performance and as a measure of its standard of living.
Sample Solution
Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell.
In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.
God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.
Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.
To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.
References
Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.
Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.
Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.
