fluctuation
(noun)
A motion like that of waves; a moving in this and that direction.
Examples of fluctuation in the following topics:
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Explaining Fluctuations in Output
- For this reason, understanding the fluctuations in economic output is critical for long term growth.
- Anything that causes labor, capital, or efficiency to go up or down results in fluctuations in economic output.
- Supply and demand may fluctuate for a number of reasons, and this in turn may affect the level of output.
- There are noticeable differences between short-run and long-run fluctuations in output.
- Short-run nominal fluctuations result in a change in the output level .
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The Business Cycle: Definition and Phases
- The term business cycle refers to economy-wide fluctuations in production, trade, and general economic activity.
- The term "business cycle" (or economic cycle or boom-bust cycle) refers to economy-wide fluctuations in production, trade, and general economic activity.
- From a conceptual perspective, the business cycle is the upward and downward movements of levels of GDP (gross domestic product) and refers to the period of expansions and contractions in the level of economic activities (business fluctuations) around a long-term growth trend .
- Business cycle fluctuations occur around a long-term growth trend and are usually measured by considering the growth rate of real gross domestic product.
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The Equilibrium Interest Rate
- Interest rates fluctuate over time in the short-run and long-run .
- This graph shows the fluctuation in interest rates in Germany from 1967 to 2003.
- Interest rates fluctuate over time as the result of numerous factors.
- This graph illustrates the fluctuations that can occur in the short-run and long-run.
- Interest rates fluctuate based on certain economic factors.
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Automatic Stabilizers
- Automatic stabilizers are modern government budget policies that act to dampen fluctuations in real GDP.
- In macroeconomics, the concept of automatic stabilizers describes how modern government budget policies, particularly income taxes and welfare spending, act to dampen fluctuations in real GDP.
- Therefore, automatic stabilizers tend to reduce the size of the fluctuations in a country's GDP.
- What makes automatic stabilizers so effective in dampening economic fluctuations is the fiscal multiplier effect.
- Taxes are a part of the automatic stabilizers a country uses to minimize fluctuations in their real GDP.
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The Business Cycle
- The business cycle is the medium-term fluctuation of the economy between periods of expansion and contraction.
- The term business cycle (or economic cycle) refers to economy-wide fluctuations in production or economic activity over several months or years.
- Despite being termed cycles, these fluctuations in economic activity do not follow a mechanical or predictable periodic pattern.
- In recent years, economic theory has moved towards the study of economic fluctuation rather than the study of business cycles.
- These views have led to the formulation of the idea that observed economic fluctuations can be modeled as shocks to a system.
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Managed Float
- Managed float regimes are where exchange rates fluctuate, but central banks attempt to influence the exchange rates by buying and selling currencies.
- Managed float regimes, otherwise known as dirty floats, are where exchange rates fluctuate from day to day and central banks attempt to influence their countries' exchange rates by buying and selling currencies.
- If a currency's value increases or decreases too rapidly, the central bank can intervene and minimize any harmful effects that might result from the radical fluctuation.
- The rupee is allowed to fluctuate with the market within a set range before the central bank will intervene.
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Automatic Stabilizers Versus Discretionary Policy
- Both approaches focus on minimizing fluctuations in real GDP but have different means of doing so.
- When the economy begins to go through an economic fluctuation, automatic stabilizers immediately respond without any official or government body having to take action.
- Finally, automatic stabilizers, such as the tax code and social service agencies, exist prior to an economic fluctuation.
- Discretionary policies are made in response to a fluctuation and only come into existence once a fluctuation starts to occur.
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Difficulty in Getting the Timing Right
- A nation can respond to economic fluctuations through automatic stabilizers or through discretionary policy.
- Because it takes so long to measure fluctuations in the economy, it may be months before the program's effect on the economy can be seen.
- It can take many months before Congress can pass a bill that would address current economic fluctuations.
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Uses of Derivatives to Manage Exposure
- Companies that produce or depend on the purchase of commodities are exposed to price fluctuations that occur in commodities markets.
- Examples of such companies include the airline industry, which is constantly exposed to the price of oil, and farming, which is not only exposed to the fluctuation in the price they can sell their goods at, but also the fluctuation in the price of animal feed, fertilizer, pesticides, and other such inputs.
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Announcements, News, and Returns
- Technical analysts study the patterns and price fluctuations and attempt to forecast the direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price, and volume.
- Some stocks tend to fluctuate more than others on a day-to-day basis, and the metric called Beta describe's the variance of a stocks day to day price.
- In general, fluctuations in one stock will often lead to fluctuations in another stock.