Module 1.4 Discussion - Cost of Living Index and Job Offers

Module 1.4 Cost of Living Index and Job Offers

Module 1.4 Discussion Board

Prompt

Use your knowledge of price indexes, as discussed in the context of the CPI in class, to consider how a “Cost of Living” index may help you to compare job offers in different locations Write a post that answers the three questions posed below Suppose that you have been offered a job with a nominal salary of $60,000 per year in Melbourne, Florida.The Cost of Living Index for Melbourne, Florida is 90.22. In your calculations enter the index value as 0.9022

1. What is the value of the Cost of Living Index in two other cities in which you may be interested in living? Use city-data.com (http://www.city-data.com/) to find the cost of living index for two cities other than Melbourne. What do these values tell you about the cost of living in each of these cities relative to the cost of living in Melbourne?To find the Cost of Living index value, use the interactive map at the bottom on the home page. Change the drop down menu to “Cost of Living” Type in the name of the city in which you are interested Click on the map to identify a specific part of the city in which you are interested in living. Note the Cost of Living index that appears at the top of sidebar Alternatively you can view the value of the index at the bottom of map. As you move over different areas of the city a red dot will mark the value of the index Note: in the screen shot below, you can see this information for Melbourne, Florida. Note: index values vary based on what part of the city you select. In this example, the location of Florida Institute of Technology is used.

2. What would your nominal salary need to be in each of your two selected cities to equal the real salary in Melbourne, Florida? Note: the U.S. average index value is 100. Explain how you completed this calculation.

3. How would you hypothesize that city-data.com calculates its cost of living index?

 Note: It not the same as the CPI, which makesa year-to-year comparison. Carefully consider what comparison is being made in this case. Response Parameters https://floridatech.instructure.com/courses/8084/discussion_topics/136281 1/3 Initial post due by   https://floridatech.instructure.com/courses/8084/discussion_topics/136281 2/3 00 https://floridatech.instructure.com/courses/8084/discussion_topics/136281 3/3