Zane Perelli currently has 116 $ that he can spend today on socks costing $2.90 each. Alternatively, he could invest the $116 in a risk-free U.S. Treasury security that is expected to earn a 11 % nominal rate of interest. The consensus forecast of leading economists is a 3% rate of inflation over the coming year. a. How many socks can Zane purchase today? b. How much money will Zane have at the end of 1 year if he forgoes purchasing the socks today and invests his money instead? (Ignore taxes.) c. How much would you expect the socks to cost at the end of 1 year in light of the expected inflation? d. Use your findings in parts b and c to determine how many socks (fractions are OK) Zane can purchase at the end of 1 year. In percentage terms, how many more or fewer socks can Zane buy at the end of 1 year? e. What is Zane's real rate of return over the year? How is it related to the percentage change in Zane's buying power found in part d? Explain.
