Macroeconomics + Economy 2009 Update 18th Edition by Campbell McConnell, Sean Masaki Flynn,Stanley Brue

Exercise 18

INVESTMENT INSTABILITY-CHANGES IN REAL PRIVATE NONRESIDENTIAL FIXED INVESTMENT The Bureau of Economic Analysis provides data for real private nonresidential fixed investment in table form at www.bea.gov. Access the BEA interactively and select National Income and Product Account Tables. Find Table 5.4, "Private Fixed Investment by Type." Has recent real private nonresidential fixed investment been volatile (as measured by percentage change from previous quarters) Which is the largest component of this type of investment, ( a ) structures or ( b ) equipment and software Which of these two components has been more volatile How do recent quarterly percentage changes compare with the previous years' changes Looking at the investment data, what investment forecast would you make for the forthcoming year