Effectiveness of the Counter-Cyclical Policies

Purpose of Assignment 

This assignment addresses how both monetary and fiscal policies have  been used during the so-called Great Recession, which began in December  2007 and ended in June 2009, to the present to moderate the business  cycle. 

Assignment Steps 

Resources: Tutorial help on Excel® and Word functions can be found on the Microsoft® Office website. There are also additional tutorials via the web offering support for Office products. 

Create a minimum 10-slide  PowerPoint® presentation, including detailed speaker notes or voiceover,  in which you analyze your choice of one the following markets or  industries:

• The housing market
• Financial markets
• Commodity and stock markets
• An industry of your choice, such as the automobile industry, the  airline industry, retail trade, or any other major industry that  suffered heavy losses during the Great Recession 

Your analysis will extend from the  beginning of the Great Recession, which was December 2007, to the  present and should include the following:

• An Excel® workbook with the following datasets:
  • One dataset related to the U.S. housing industry such as housing  starts, the FHFA housing price index, or another dataset of your choice  related to the housing market.
  • One dataset related to personal or household income or to personal or household saving.
  • One dataset related to the labor market such as the unemployment  rate, initial claims for unemployment insurance, or another dataset of  your choice related to the U.S. labor force.
  • One dataset related to production and business activity within the market or industry you choose to analyze.
• Find your datasets by using different internet data sources,  including, but not limited to, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’s  FRED site, U.S. Dept. of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA),  U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau,  and The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).   Using data results analyze the economic and sociological forces that  drove the market equilibrium to unsustainable heights, commonly referred  to as “bubbles,” and the shocks that brought the markets back down.
• Discuss specific changes in supply and demand within the markets and/or industries you chose to analyze.
• Examine prior government policies and legislation that might have  exacerbated the impact of the shocks. Also, discuss government  actions/regulations that might be undertaken, and/or have been  undertaken, to moderate the effects of extreme economic fluctuations.
• Evaluate the actions of the federal government (fiscal policy) and  the Federal Reserve (monetary policy) to restore the economy and foster  economic growth. Base your evaluation on information available at  Internet sources such as, but not limited to, the Fed’s The Economy Crisis and Response  website as well as other appropriate sources found on the Internet and  in the University Library. Be sure you address the effectiveness of  those counter-cyclical policies. 

Cite a minimum of three  peer-reviewed sources and economic data not including the course text.  Submit the data results in a separate Microsoft® Excel® file. 

Format the assignment consistent with APA guidelines. 

Second Part:

Comparative and Absolute Advantage

Purpose of Assignment

This assignment will help students master  research and other analytical skills and will help students recognize  reasons why economic growth varies by country. By using macroeconomic  indicators, students will complete analysis and determine comparative  and absolute advantage in different product categories for each  country’s economy. 

Assignment Steps 

Resources: Tutorial help on Excel® and Word functions can be found on the Microsoft® Office website. There are also additional tutorials via the web offering support for Office products. 

Develop a minimum 1,050-word analysis of the international economy in which you do the following: 

• As a team, choose three countries from the list below. Research each  country, using resources such as the CIA World Fact Book, World Bank  data, World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Federal Reserve Bank.  Research each of your three chosen country’s economic, political, and  cultural development:

USA

• Australia
• Canada

China

Saudi Arabia

• Democratic Republic of Congo
• France
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Italy
• Japan
• Analyze measures of economic growth and of comparative and absolute advantage in international trade.
• Use tables and/or graphs to compare the following economic  statistics/indicators of your three chosen countries for the most recent  year available and for 2009 (the trough of the last economic cycle):
  • Country Real GDP
  • Country CPI
  • Country Real Exports
  • Country Real Imports
  • Country Unemployment Rate
  • Country Industrial Production

Discuss reasons why the economic growth of the three countries  varies. How does international trade influence the strength of the  economy worldwide?  

• Discuss the following for each country:
  • At least two products that have provided the country an absolute advantage in trade (if any).
  • At least two products that have provided the country a comparative advantage in trade.
  • Factors that might have prevented any of your three chosen countries from achieving absolute and/or comparative advantages.

Cite a minimum of three peer-reviewed sources. 

Format the assignment consistent with APA guidelines.