The following table contains information about an economy that produces only pens and books. The base year is 2017. Use this information to answer question

Year

Price of Pens

Price of Books

Quantity of Books

2017

2018

2019

$3

4

Quantity of Pens

100

120

120

$10

12

14

50

70

70

What is the percentage increase in real GDP from 2018 to 2019?

a. 22 percent

O b. 27 percent

c. 7 percent

d. 0 percent

e. 32 percent

1 answer

To calculate the percentage increase in real GDP from 2018 to 2019, we first need to determine the real GDP for each year (2018 and 2019) using the base year's prices (2017 prices).

Base Year (2017) Prices:

  • Price of Pens: $3
  • Price of Books: $10

2018:

  • Quantity of Pens: 120
  • Quantity of Books: 70

Real GDP for 2018 = (Quantity of Pens * Price of Pens) + (Quantity of Books * Price of Books) \[ \text{Real GDP}{2018} = (120 \text{ pens} \times 3) + (70 \text{ books} \times 10) \] \[ \text{Real GDP}{2018} = (360) + (700) = 1060 \]

2019:

  • Quantity of Pens: 120
  • Quantity of Books: 70

Real GDP for 2019 = (Quantity of Pens * Price of Pens) + (Quantity of Books * Price of Books) \[ \text{Real GDP}{2019} = (120 \text{ pens} \times 3) + (70 \text{ books} \times 10) \] \[ \text{Real GDP}{2019} = (360) + (700) = 1060 \]

Now, we calculate the percentage increase in real GDP from 2018 to 2019: \[ \text{Percentage Increase} = \left(\frac{\text{Real GDP}{2019} - \text{Real GDP}{2018}}{\text{Real GDP}_{2018}} \right) \times 100 \]

Substituting in the values we calculated: \[ \text{Percentage Increase} = \left(\frac{1060 - 1060}{1060} \right) \times 100 = 0% \]

Thus, the percentage increase in real GDP from 2018 to 2019 is:

d. 0 percent