Measuring Manufacturing : How The Computer And Semiconductor Industries Affect The Numbers And Perceptions Upjohn Institute Working Paper No

Question 34 Consider the following data that gives the quantity produced and unit price for three different goods across two different years to answer the questions that follow: Assume that the base year is 2012. What was the growth rate of real GDP between the two years?

i. Calculate the growth rate of real GDP for each year from 1994 to 1997.

Compared to every other domestic industry, the semiconductor industry is unique. It is perennially one of America’s top exports, and every year, chip makers and designers dramatically increase the performance of their products while decreasing prices, making high-end technology goods increasingly productive and affordable for consumers.

This is somewhat slower than the projected 3.5% gain for real gross domestic product (GDP) in 1998. In 1999, RPMs would advance 2.5% to 605 billion, while real GDP is seen growing 1.7%. The recently sluggish pace for air travel represents a break from the normal pattern: since 1987, air travel has grown 1.8 times faster than real GDP.

computer hardware sector. The company has a high brand value in the market due to its cost

Overall activity in our nation’s manufacturing sector has declined and in recent years to the lowest level in more than two decades. Thus, the declines resulted in increased unemployment rates among the manufacturing industry in the U.S. One cause of the joblessness increase is because companies employ worker’s that are so productive that fewer employees are required to produce more goods. Ultimately, the U.S. economy is no longer manufacturing-based; rather, nearly 85 percent of U.S. jobs now come from the service sector.

The technological revolution spanned many decades, but for the scope of this paper will be limited to the 1990s through the early 2000s. Prior to the 1990s, the U.S. technology market was dominated by foreign products. Conversely, several blue-collar industries, including the furniture industry, were thriving on U.S. made goods. The foreign technology market dominance shifted in the 1990s. The creation of several U.S. technology and dot-com companies swayed the technology market to the U.S., but this shift did not benefit the blue-collar industries.

• As previously stated in the executive summary, the United States’ economy is currently stagnating. From week to week we may see a rise in one indicator while there is a fall in another indicator, but none of the rises or falls are drastic enough to have an overwhelming impact on the economy as a whole. Although the economy is not near as strong as it was before the 2008-2009 recession, arguably one of the biggest economic crises of the past decade, there has been much growth and strength throughout the past few years with this year being the first year in which the economy is in somewhat of a holding pattern. I believe, that even with the little growth and movement of the United States economy over the past year, it is still perhaps one of the strongest economies in the world at the moment.

In 2003 the global economic situation was flourishing with growth strengthening up to 3% in 2003 from

The Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry The specific industry that will be referred to will be the semiconductor manufacturing industry. This industry emerged after World War II, first in the Boston area and then moved westwards into California during the 1950s. Reasons for locating in such areas include flat land, temperature, stable economy, steady government scene, accessible to markets, available raw materials and high skilled labour. Because the industry is high tech it has meant that these factors are decreasing in importance and factors such as the environment, government assistance and cleanliness are changing the pattern of semiconductor manufacturer locations.

The first leading economic indicator in the latest press release of the business cycle of the United States is the average weekly hours and manufacturing (“Description of components,” 2012, February 6). For the month of March, businesses showed acceleration in manufacturing. This is the second straight month in March where manufacturing production has grown. The Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index was 53.2 % in February while it turned out to increase to 53.7 percent for March (“US manufacturing expanded more quickly in March,” 2014, April 1). This increase shows how manufacturing production increased from February to March by .5 percent. Although this is a slight increase this shows how there is either growth in the companies or the economy is getting better. Any Readings of 50 percent and higher show an expansion or a growth in manufacturing period (“US manufacturing expanded more

Semiconductor industry is relatively a new field as compared to other fields of technology and merely consists of several decades. It has been showing substantial growth since past 40 years with global sales increasing at a compound rate of 9% p.a. With all the technological advancements taking place every day, it is one of those very few industries which haven't sustained major losses in the times of depression. Although it does shows cyclic nature like any other industry however the downturns and uplifts have a moderate nature. This is the reason why economic crunch of 2001 and 2009 were not a major blow for semiconductor sector. And in present era of recovery, the industry is showing growth.

|the industry and its challenges it is important to understand its various phases of growth so far. |

The current rate of GDP growth, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, is 2.7% (for Q3), and it was 1.3% in Q2 of this year. This rate reflects relatively slow growth, with challenges remaining in the domestic market and with sluggishness in Europe suppressing exports to that region. The rate of GDP growth is predicted to slow to a decline of 0.5% between Q4 2012 and Q4 2013, the US re-entering recession, according to the Congressional Budget Office's projections. These projections are based on the provisions of the Budget Control Act being enacted, though any observers are doubtful that this will occur.

In the U.S., software drove about 1/4 of all increase in GDP during the 1990s (about $90 billion per year), and 1/6 of all productivity growth (efficiency within GDP) during the late 1990s (about $33 billion per year). Software engineering drove $1 trillion of economic and productivity growth over the last decade.