The personal savings rate of Americans has fluctuated over time. It stood at a hefty
10.8% of after-tax income in 1984, but dropped to by 2005 when Americans
actually spent more than they earned. This was the first negative savings rate since
the Great Depression of the 1930s. In recent years, Americans have spent less and
saved more, and personal savings rates have returned to positive territory, reaching
6.9% in May 2009. (Source:U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.)
In this chapter, we examine signed numbersand apply them to situations such
as the personal savings rate of Americans in Exercise 115of Section 1.5.
- 0.5%
The Real Number System
1.1 Fractions
1.2 Exponents, Order of Operations, and Inequality
1.3 Variables,
Expressions,
and Equations
1.4 Real Numbers and the Number Line
the Number Line
1.5 Adding and Subtracting Real Numbers
Subtracting Real
Numbers
1.6 Multiplying and Dividing Real Numbers
Dividing Real
Numbers
Summary Exercises on
Operations with Real
Numbers
1.7 Properties of Real Numbers
Numbers
1.8 Simplifying Expressions
Expressions
1
CHAPTER