Econ Stats and Dates

USAD Economics Resource Guide statistics and dates

Price per barrel of oil (1972) (pg49; S2).

$3.39

Price per barrel of oil (1981) (pg49; S2).

$31.77

Price per barrel of oil (1986) after an increase in production (pg49; S2).

less than $10

Year and month when the COVID-19 pandemic caused demand for oil to decrease, causing OPEC’s production to decrease, causing price to increase in subsequent months (pg49; S2).

April, 2020

Year the OPEC-initiated oil embargo occurred which led to a leftward ASSR shift (pg102; S3).

1973

Year when Middle Eastern oil supplies disrupted, causing heating oil prices to surge, leading the US to implement a price ceiling on heating oil to protect low-income families (pg30; S2).

1979

Average number of supermarket items (pg7; S1).

31,530

Percent change in milk production after the development of synthetic Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) (pg24; S2).

10%-20% increase

Until recently, the DeBeers company owned mines from which this percentage of the world’s diamonds are produced, making them essentially a monopoly created by the ownership of a key-resource (pg44; S2).

80%

Year the Sherman Antitrust Act was enacted, aimed at increasing market competition (pg46; S2).

1890

Year when US anti-trust regulators split up AT&T (pg46; S2).

1984

Month and year when NYC became the first to approve congestion pricing aimed at addressing externalities associated with traffic congestion (pg52; S2).

April, 2019

Year when California established their emission trading system (ETS), setting annual GHG emission caps and allowing companies to trade credits in auction markets offering flexibility (pg54; S2).

2013

Year when a report found that US domestic sugar price supports and trade restrictions were causing rent seeking behaviors (pg59; S2).

2017

The range of estimated losses to households resulting from US price supports on domestic sugar and trade restrictions (pg59; S2).

$2.4-$4 billion

Spread across a population of over this number, the cost per person resulting from US price supports on domestic sugar and trade restrictions are low (pg59; S2).

300 million

US price supports for domestic sugar production combined with the restrictions on the importation of cheaper sugar from outside the country keep US sugar prices nearly this many times world levels (pg59; S2).

2 times

How much more the US rGDP per capita is now compared to 1900 (pg63; S3).

9 times

How much more the US population is now compared to 1900 (pg63; S3).

4 times

How much more the US’s rGDP is now compared to 1900 (pg62; S3).

40 times

How long the Great Depression lasted in months (pg96; S3).

43 months

Years when the Great Depression occurred (pg62; S3).

1929-1933

Price level change as a result of the Great Depression (pg92; S3).

25% decrease

Month and year the Great Depression started (pg96; S3).

August, 1929

Years encompassing WWII, a period of expansion (pg62; S3).

1941-1945

rGDP per capita (2019) (pg63; S3).

$65,000

China’s population compared to the US (pg63; S3).

5 times the US

China’s rGDP compared to US rGDP (pg63; S3).

2/3 of the US

China’s rGDP per capita compared to US rGDP per capita (pg63; S3).

.15 or 15% of the US

India’s rGDP per capita compared to the US rGDP per capita (pg64; S3).

.032 or 3.2% of the US

The decade when international trade began to generally increase (pg66; S3).

1950’s

The US ran a trade surplus up until this part of this decade (Exports > Imports) (pg67; S3).

late-1950’s

The decade when the US began to run a trade deficit (Imports > Exports) (pg67; S3).

1970’s

Over the past this many years, women have begun entering the paid labor force, increasing the amount of commercially provided childcare and housecleaning causing GDP to rise (doesn’t reflect an increase in total production since this was simply a shift from non-market to market activities) (pg71; S3).

60 years

The decades when women have begun entering the paid labor force (increasing the natural rate of unemployment).

The decades when traditional manufacturing industries declined and the service sector grew (increasing the natural rate of unemployment) (pg98; S3).

1970’s-1980’s

Year when the Boskin Commission, headed by economist Michael Boskin, reviewed the methods used to calculate CPI and concluded the effects of substitution bias, quality improvement, and the introduction of new goods meant that CPI overstates inflation (pg75; S3).

1996

The Boskin Commission, headed by economist Michael Boskin, reviewed the methods used to calculate CPI and concluded the effects of substitution bias, quality improvement, and the introduction of new goods meant that CPI overstates inflation by this percentage per this increment of time (pg75; S3).

1.3% per year

The decade when the US steel industry (in the industrial northeast) contracted and the computer industry (the Sunbelt industries) expanded, causing structural unemployment due to location and skills (pg77; S3).

1980’s

The two centuries when economic growth (which started in the US and Western Europe) spread internationally to Japan and parts of Latin America (pg78; S3).

19th and 20th centuries

Decade when economic growth (which up to that point had spread to Japan and parts of Latin America from the US and Western Europe) began to spread to a growing number of countries around the world (pg78; S3).

1950’s

Inbev (Brazilian and Belgian company) buys this company (NCO decreases as foreign residents purchase domestic assets) (pg84; S3).

Anheuser-Busch (US company)

Where Intel created a new factory (NCO increases as domestic residents purchase foreign assets) (pg84; S3).

2nd China (Taiwan)

Year when Mitsubishi (Japanese) bought the Rockefeller Center (NY, US), (Foreign Direct Investment) (pg84; S3).

1989

Year when the US FOMC made RR=0% as the US transitioned into an ample reserves system (pg91; S3).

2020

CPI in 2019 compared to the CPI in 1960 (pg92; S3).

8.6 times

The decade when inflation rates reached double digits (something the public saw as the biggest economic problem) (pg94; S3).

1970’s

Most recent years when the US saw a small decline in CPI (pg92; S3).

2008-2009

The general rule of thumb is that periods when rGDP declines for this many consecutive quarters are recessions, with the dates being determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) (pg96; S3).

2 quarters

Since WWII, periods of recession have been relatively short, with only this many stretching longer than 12 months, though all were relatively mild in terms of declines in rGDP (pg96; S3).

3 recessions

During the Great Depression, rGDP fell by this fraction (pg96; S3).

1/4 decrease

Expansions typically last much longer than the recessions, with most lasting over this many years, a fact that is reflected in the sustained upward trend of rGDP (pg96; S3).

over 2 years

There was a generally upward trend in the rate of inflation in between these two years, making the business cycle effect somewhat difficult to see, though if you look closely, the rate of inflation was declining during recessions (pg96; S3).

1960-1979

Year when a drop in stock prices reduced wealth and caused consumers to reduce their level of spending at every price level (leftward shift in AD) (pg102; S3).

2008

Years when a recession caused state governments to furlough employees, reducing spending and shifting AD to the left (pg102; S3).

2007-2009

Month and year when the COVID-19 recession began, causing consumption and business investment to decrease, government spending increased to try to fill the gap, yet in the end the recession happened (pg103; S3).

February, 2020

Judging from the length of typical economic cycles, this is the range of times it takes for short-run predictions to deviate from long-run models, typically just represented as the “short run“ (pg104; S3).

1 to 3 years

The decade when Lyndon B. Johnson began his military build-up, financing it through borrowing instead of increasing taxes because of worries about popularity (created unexpected AD shifts) (pg104; S3).

1960’s

The natural tendency to return to a situation in which resources are fully employed in the aggregate economy usually takes this amount of time or more to significantly affect the economy, a fact that leads many economists to argue for fiscal or monetary policies (pg104; S3).

1 year or more

How long it usually takes to calculate the first estimates of GDP, which are also subject to substantial revision over the next few months as additional data becomes available (pg108; S3).

3 months

It can take this range of time from when Congress authorizes additional spending until the projects are actually undertaken (pg108; S3).

6 months to 1 year

The 1st cell phones were introduced in this part of this decade but didn't have a large enough market penetration to be added to the CPI basket (pg75; S3).

mid-1970’s

The number of households the BLS survey each month to measure the unemployment rate asking a series of questions to classify every person 16 or older into the categories of employed, unemployed, and out of the labor force (pg75; S3).

60,000

If a person worked for pay either full or part-time during the last this number of weeks or is on vacation or sick leave from a regular job, they are considered employed (pg75; S3).

1 week

A person is required to have made some effort to find paid employment during the last this many weeks to be considered unemployed. If they haven't then they are considered out of the labor force (pg75; S3).

4 weeks

The working age population in the US as of July, 2020 (pg76; S3).

260 million

The labor force in the US as of July, 2020 (pg76; S3).

160 million

The labor force participation rate in the US as of July, 2020 (pg76; S3).

61.4%

The employed population in the US as of July, 2020 (pg76; S3).

143.5 million

The unemployed population in the US as of July, 2020 (pg76; S3).

16.3 million

The unemployment rate in the US as of July, 2020 (pg76; S3).

10.2%

The unemployment rate in the US as of 2019 (pg76; S3).

3.4%

One of the earliest known efforts to measure national output was undertaken by Sir William Petty in this part of this century as a part of the British government’s effort to assess the ability of Irish people to pay taxes to the crown (pg71; S3).

mid-1600’s (mid-17th century)

Because of the lack of comprehensive data on the national economic activity was hampering efforts to respond to the Great Depression, in this year, the US Department of Commerce commissioned economist Simon Kuznets to develop a system to measure national output (pg71; S3).

1932

Year when Simon Kuznets presented his system to measure national output in a report to the Senate (pg71; S3).

1934

Year when Simon Kuznets received a Nobel Prize for Economic Science in part for his contributions to the measurement of national production (pg71; S3).

1971

Arthur Okun, one of JFK’s chief economic advisors, created Okun’s Law (1% change in cyclical unemployment results in a 2% change in the output gap) in this part of this decade (pg98; S3).

early-1960’s

Year when British economist John Maynard Keynes created his book, “The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money“ because microeconomic models could not account for the events of the Great Depression, creating the Keynesian Model (pg101; S3).

1936

The number of internet satellites that SpaceX want to provide in total in order to provide internet to everywhere in the world from orbit (pg101; S3).

12,000

The number of internet satellites SpaceX produces per month (pg101; S3).

over 100

Year when the “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations“ by Adam Smith was created (pg6; S0).

1776

Month and year when the NY Times reported that forest fires in Western Canada delivered deadly smoke to New Yorkers. “scientists have long warned that global warming will increase the chance of severe wildfires like those burning across Canada and heat waves like the one smothering Puerto Rico“ (pg110; S4).

June, 2023

Year when a Stanford study found an increase in toxic pollution from wildfires (pg110; S4).

2022

A Stanford study found that the number of people exposed to toxic pollution from wildfires for at least one day in a year has increased by this amount between 2006 and 2020 (pg110; S4).

27 times

The month, day, and year when NYC’s Health Commissioner said at a news conference, “Climate change is real. It is here. The extreme weather and disasters like these wildfires, thousands of miles away, Land right here in our great city and impact our health“ (pg110; S4).

June 7, 2023

Decade when pollution controlling scrubbers on coal-fired power plants passed legislation (pg112; S4).

1970’s

Year when Russia invaded Ukraine, resulting in successful collective action by other groups, similar to the successful collective action in WWII (pg115; S4).

2022

The Biden administration’s SCC (pg119; S4).

$51/ton

The EPA proposed raising the Biden administration’s SCC estimates in this part of this year (pg119; S4).

late-2022

The EPA’s SCC (using a discount rate of 2%) (pg119; S4).

$190/ton

The EPA’s SCC (using a discount rate of 2.5%) (pg119; S4).

$120/ton

The EPA’s SCC (using a discount rate of 1.5%) (pg119; S4).

$340/ton

Sweden’s SCC (the highest) (pg119; S4).

$126/ton

Poland and Ukraine’s SCC (pg119; S4).

$0/ton

The percentage of the world population that lives within 100km of oceans (or surrounded by them). (About the same percentage as in the US) (pg120; S4).

40%

The World Food Programme identified this many countries or areas most likely to suffer from climate damages (name them if you can) (pg120; S4).

8 (South Sudan, Madagascar, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Chad, the Sahel, the Dry Corridor of Central America including Honduras and Guatemala)

Time magazine identified this number of places with special vulnerability to climate change (name them if you can) (pg120; S4).

6 (Haiti; Yemen; UAE; Lagos, Nigeria; Manila, Philippines; Kiribati)

The percent change in the price of large-scale solar PV between 2009 and 2019 according to the UN Human Development Report (pg121; S4).

90% decrease

The prices of large-scale solar PV now cost this fraction of what they did in 2010 (pg121; S4).

1/10 or less

Lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles and other motors are this percentage cheaper than in 1991 (pg121; S4).

97%

The projected annual cost decline between 2010 and 2020 for solar (pg121; S4).

2.6%