Economics Questions Thread

[Hutchoo]

Yeah, downunder is a great textbook.

[monkeywantsabanana]

Does anyone know the difference between the economics fundamentals textbook and economics downunder?

I have both, which one should I use as my "main" textbook?

thanks

Economics Fundamentals Textbook - worst textbook ever.

[Sebby]

Economics Fundamentals Textbook - worst textbook ever.

Why do you say that?

[abcdqdxD]

From what I've gathered, down under is more detailed and uses more complex wording, while fundamentals is a 'dumbed-down' version

[Sebby]

Hmm fair enough.
That being said, if my school's economics curriculum is using fundamentals, would you recommend just buying the down-under textbook liverpool?

[abcdqdxD]

Hmm fair enough.
That being said, if my school's economics curriculum is using fundamentals, would you recommend just buying the down-under textbook liverpool?

Hmm, yeah I guess so. I thought you were super cheapo

[Notes4me123]

Hs

What is the book which has a paperback green cover for 3/4?

[sam.utute]

I've seen/read/used both textbooks.
Down Under is definitely more user friendly. The Salla/MacGregor book is published by CPAP, which may be a reason that the overall publication quality of the text is not as good. They use WordArt for some of their headings

Personally, I found the employment explanations in the Fundamentals book to be excellent. For everything else, I relied on Down Under.

[abcdqdxD]

How difficult is it to get a 45+ in economics? Most of those scores are from private schools

[Hutchoo]

Getting a 45 raw in any subject is pretty damn hard. In saying this, it isn't impossible!
In fact, sam.utute and schmalex (VN users who scored 50 raw in eco) both went to schools that weren't private/selective

Keep your hopes high and study hard, you should be fine.

[Notes4me123]

I don't mind fundamentals.

Anyone got any Economics notes though

[abcdqdxD]

Just curious - whats the difference between the cash rate and the interest rate?

[Kuchiki]

Just curious - whats the difference between the cash rate and the interest rate?

Interest rates are those set by banks and other financial institutions, like the interest rate charged on a loan, for example, which will vary from bank to bank.

The cash rate is set by the RBA (currently at 3.0%). You can think of this as the interest rate given to banks when they borrow from the RBA.

[abcdqdxD]

You can think of this as the interest rate given to banks when they borrow from the RBA.

The banks don't actually borrow money from the RBA do they? If they did, it wouldn't make sense for them to have their rates similar to the cash rate because they won't make much profit?

[Kuchiki]

The banks don't actually borrow money from the RBA do they? If they did, it wouldn't make sense for them to have their rates similar to the cash rate because they won't make much profit?

There's actually an article about this that was published today on MrWood (http://economics.mrwood.com.au/article.asp?id=494):

The cash rate is a type of interest rate.  When banks borrow money in the overnight money market, they borrow at the cash rate.  At the moment this rate is 3.0%.  In a way you can think of this as the wholesale price of money – the banks can borrow for 3.0%, so when they lend money to us, they will charge a higher rate so that they can make a profit.

Yes, the banks do like to set their interest rates higher than the cash rate, which is why there were so many news articles and reports last year questioning whether the banks were being greedy and inflating their profits by not passing on the cash rate cuts in full.