Assessment Task

Assessment Type: Critical Review - 2500 + 10% report - Individual Research Project

Purpose: To allow students to research and critically analyse and evaluate the economic the macroeconomic performance of the USA and Australia. This assessment contributes to Learning Outcomes (a) and (c).

Submission: Soft copy uploaded to Moodle and Turnitin - Word .doc or .docx, and hardcopy submitted to the Library

Topic: Evaluation of Macroeconomic performance of Australia and USA.

Task Details: Students will complete a research-based analysis and evaluation of the macroeconomic performance of Australia and the United States of America (USA) from 1990 to 2013/14.

Students will follow this procedure:

(1) Obtain data on key macroeconomic indicators: real GDP, interest rates, unemployment rate, CPI, exchange rate, exports and imports.

(2) Produce tables and graphs of real GDP growth rates, inflation rates, unemployment rates, exchange rates interest rates and rate of change of NX.

(3) Use the information obtained in (1) and (2) above to answer the following question:

(a) How is real GDP growth related to the other indicators in each country? Explain.

(b) Briefly comment on the correlation between interest rate and inflation and interest rate and unemployment?

(c) Are the macroeconomic indicators of Australia and the US correlated with each other? Explain

(d) In which country has monetary policy been tighter in the past decade, the US or Australia?

(e) Write a short prediction of the macroeconomic outlook each country. Which of the two countries, Australia or USA, is more likely to experience a recession or expansion soon?

Research requirements: Students need to support their analysis with a minimum of 10 academic journal articles plus the text. Students aiming for a Credit or higher grade will need to use more sources. Articles should be relevant and recent. Non-academic journal sources may also be used, but relevant and validity should be clarified with the lecturer/tutor.

Presentation: Report format - 2500 + 10% word report - Word .doc or .docx

Title page, executive summary, table of contents, appropriate headings and sub-headings, recommendations/findings/conclusions, in-text referencing and reference list (Harvard - Anglia style), attachments if relevant. Single spaced, font Times New Roman 12pt, Calibri 11pt or Arial 10pt.