2003, Question 1 · 14 points

Spending cuts and a Fed purchase in recession

Graph an economy in deep recession, show and explain how a cut in government spending affects output, prices and unemployment, graph the interest rate effect of a Fed bond purchase and its effect on output, and explain how the rate change moves the dollar, exports and imports.

This exam had three free-response questions to answer in 50 minutes of writing time after a 10-minute planning period, with about half the time suggested for Question 1 and the rest split evenly between Questions 2 and 3. The current exam has 3 free-response questions in 60 minutes. The skills these questions practice still count.

1 Read the question

The question is College Board's, from the 2003 exam. It starts on page 2 of the PDF. College Board no longer posts this exam, so it opens from the copy of College Board's PDF that the Internet Archive saved on September 28, 2023.

Open Question 1 (PDF, page 2)

2 Write your answer

Answer each part the way you would on the exam, in full sentences, with your work shown. Your writing saves as you type.

3 Score it

Score your answer against College Board's scoring guidelines, one point at a time. Give yourself a point only when your answer says what the guideline asks for.

Scoring guidelines (PDF, page 2) What the exam readers saw (Student Performance Q&A)

Question, scoring guidelines and Chief Reader report: College Board, from the Internet Archive. The title, summary are ours.