Explain what caused "the long boom" in the U.S. and world economy from the early 1980s to its peak in 2006.  Make sure to mention, with a few key facts in each case, the role played by (a) advances in information-processing technologies, (b) specific government deregulation of financial markets, (c) psychological and social factors.  Also, how in hindsight would you justify that it was an unsustainable boom?-what key statistics and trends were indicators of an obviously unsustainable boom?

In your own words, as if to a 'person on the street' who hasn't had much economics, define "interest rate parity."  Explain, to this same person, why interest rate parity might be the most important governing logic of how international financial markets work; in answering this later question you might want to explain how the life of the person "on the street" might be affected by the 'dominance' of interest rate parity processes, using examples.

Explain briefly what typically causes the boom (refer to your answer to question 2 if you like), turning point, and bust phases of a "severe financial crisis," and explain what typically happens with several major macroeconomic statistics during these phases.  Make sure "v" is one of the statistics chosen, and explain why "v" declined 25% during the fourth quarter of 2008-what does that decline represent?  Pick one of the severe crises that we have studied in the class (the current crisis if you like), and mention a few reasons why it does or doesn't fit these common historical patterns.