The following questions are designed for essay-length responses. Answers are not provided.

1. Analyze the ability of the Solow Growth Model to explain cross-country income differences. In your answer, discuss the roles of the savings rate, population growth, human capital, growth accounting, and the concept of conditional convergence.
2. Compare and contrast the four primary hypotheses for the fundamental causes of long-run growth: luck, geography, institutions, and culture. Using the evidence from the “Korean Experiment” and the “Reversal of Fortune,” evaluate which of these hypotheses provides the most compelling explanation for the divergent economic paths of nations.
3. Explain the key structural differences between the neoclassical (Ramsey) growth model and the baseline overlapping generations (OLG) model. How do these differences, particularly regarding household structure and time horizons, lead to different conclusions about dynamic efficiency, the role of government debt, and Social Security?
4. Describe the evolution from exogenous growth models, like the Solow model, to endogenous growth models based on expanding product or input varieties. Discuss the importance of concepts such as the non-rivalry of ideas, monopoly power, and externalities in creating a framework where profit incentives drive sustained technological progress.
5. What is “directed technological change”? Explain how the interplay between the “market size effect” and the “price effect” determines the bias of new technologies. Apply this framework to explain the phenomenon of skill-biased technological change and the observed patterns in the college wage premium over the 20th century.