Economics (McConnell), 18th Edition

THE U.S. BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES—WHAT ARE THE LATEST FIGURES? The U.S. Census Bureau reports the latest data on U.S. trade in goods and services at its Web site, www.census.gov/indicator/www/ustrade.html. In the latest month, did the trade balance in goods and services improve (that is, yield a smaller deficit or a larger surplus) or deteriorate? Was the relative trade strength of the United States compared to the rest of the world in goods or in services? Which product groups had the largest increases in exports? Which had the largest increases in imports?

THE YEN-DOLLAR EXCHANGE RATE The Federal Reserve Board of Governors provides exchange rates for various currencies for the last decade at www.federalreserve.gov/releases (Under the heading Exchange Rates and International Data, notice the subheading Foreign Exchange Rates. Click on the Annual link. You will find links to annual releases of exchange rate information. Use the most current and previous ones to answer the following question.) Has the dollar appreciated, depreciated, or remained constant relative to the Canadian dollar, the European euro, the Japanese yen, the Swedish krona, and the Swiss franc since 2000?