Assessment Content
CW2 is an individual assignment (max 2,500
words limit – penalties apply§) involving monitoring
and evaluating economic data in the application of relevant economic theory to
a contemporary topic.
You will write an analysis report
that evaluates comparatively the performance of the UK and the US
economies in since Q4 2019, discuss the theory behind the government
policies implemented and analyse their impact on the economic variables
chosen. You will need to use
the economic dataset given to draw charts and inform your discussion of
your two countries.
On the basis of your analysis,
you must draw conclusions on the recent past and expected near-future
performance of the two economies.
A. Economic Indicators.
You will be given a data set as an Excel spreadsheet with
the quarterly time series for the indicators below for the period Q4 2019 – Q3
2021.
1.
GDP growth rate
2.
Household final consumption expenditure growth
3.
Government final consumption expenditure growth
4.
Gross fixed capital formation growth
5.
Current account balance (as % of GDP)
6.
Government budget deficit (as % of GDP)
7.
National debt (as % of GDP)
8.
Inflation rate
9.
M4 or M3 monetary aggregate growth rate
10.
Official Central Bank interest rate
11.
Annual average interest rate on 3-month
government bonds
12.
Annual average yield on 10-year government bonds
13.
Loans to non-financial corporations (volume or
growth rate)
14.
Loans to households (volume or growth rate)
15.
Real effective exchange rate index
16.
Employment rate
17.
Unemployment rate
18.
Average earnings (Year-on-Year)
19.
GDP per hour worked (Year-on-Year growth rate or
level index)
20.
Main stock market index
21.
Purchasing Managers’ Index
22.
Business Confidence Index
23.
Consumer Confidence Index
You will need to cite and reference the data as follows:
In-text citation: Thomson Reuters (2022).
At the bottom of tables and graphs: ‘Source: Thomson Reuters
(2022)’.
In ‘References’: Thomson Reuters (2022) Various economic
indicators Q4 2019- Q3 2021. Accessed 30 April 2022 from https://eikon.thomsonreuters.com/index.html
B. Analysis report.
First,
you will need to overview the impact of recent economic developments – i.e. the
pandemic, the recession and the subsequent recovery.
Second,
you need to look at how the two countries have fared during the period given. Essentially,
you will need to apply the textbook theory to analyse the statistical data
collected and review the government policies pursued.
–
Look at the data and try to figure out what
happened. Then pull into the discussion the indicators that contribute to your
argument on the countries’ evolution. You need to use Excel to draw charts from
the data given, plotting the comparative situation of the countries.
–
DO NOT
paste in tables from TradingEconomics, Statista or others like them. Do not simply describe the
evolution of each indicator in isolation.
–
Look at the data comparatively between
countries and try to combine indicators in the same charts (eg. unemployment
and GDP growth). Cite the sources, number the charts and refer to them in the
discussion. Consider whether a
table with numbers would be better to use in the body of the report instead of
a chart.
–
You must integrate the discussion of the
analysis of the indicators with the discussion of the policies implemented. Identify the policies pursued in the two
countries (cite the sources), see how the policies relate to what the theory
says (cite the textbook) and link back to the data.
Third,
you must keep track of economic developments and the latest data in the two
countries and make inferences on the near future. Use estimates of indicators (e.g. GDP growth) and forward-looking
indicators (e.g. PMI, confidence) to support your analysis.
Fourth,
you must make sure that there is a clear argument flowing through the report
and you must draw conclusions based on the points made previously.
N.B. Application of the theory covered in the
module must be clear throughout the assignment – I expect you to refer to the equations
involving the variables you look at (cite the textbook), draw appropriate
diagrams with IS-LM and the 3-equations-models (you can
draw them by hand and paste in a photo).
You need to cite sources in text and give
their full references at the end using the Harvard system. Avoid
Wikipedia, Investopedia, anonymous
blogs and the like. Stick to using the recommended reading lists of
academic journal articles, textbooks and, where appropriate, news articles from
sources such as The Economist, Bloomberg, BBC News, the FT and other
broadsheets.
Suggested
report structure:
Abstract
Table
of Contents
Introduction
Overview
of recent and current economic events
Comparing
economic performance in the UK and the US (data and policies)
–
The goods and financial markets
–
The labour market
–
Output, unemployment and inflation
Theory-informed
inferences on the near future
Conclusions
References
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CW2 is an individual assignment (max 2,500
words limit – pena appeared first on blitzarchive.com.