Macroeconomic Shocks: Effects on the General Economy, Agricultural Prices, and Rural Unemployment

Abstract

This report examines macroeconomic shocks and the effects of the shocks on agricultural prices and the rural unemployment rate. The macroeconomic model described in this report is a structural, simultaneous equation model of quarterly frequency based on the Neoclassical-Keynesian Synthesis of macroeconomic theory. The model also includes linkages to agricultural and food prices and to the rural unemployment rate. We used the model in separate simulations to evaluate the effects of monetary policy, fiscal policy, the exchange rate, the price of crude oil, and a drought.