Economics Assessment: Individual Critical Analysis

Purpose: To allow students to research and critically analyse an evaluate the macroeconomic performance of an economy.

Topic: Analysis and evaluation of Macroeconomic performance of Australia and USA.

Task Details: Each student will complete a research-based analysis and evaluation of the macroeconomic performance of Australia and the United States of America (USA) from 1990 to 2015.

Students will follow the following procedure:

(1) Obtain data on key macroeconomic indicators: real GDP, interest rates, unemployment rate, CPI, exchange rate, exports and imports (NX) [Note: All raw data are to be presented in Appendix only].

(2) Produce graphs and tables of summary statistics of real GDP growth rates, inflation rates, unemployment rates, exchange rates, interest rates and the growth rate of NX. [Note: Downloaded graphs are not acceptable]

(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 Australia and the USA? Explain.

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

(c) Are the macroeconomic indicators in Australia and the United States correlated? Explain

(d) In which country has monetary policy been tighter in the past decade? Critically Explain.

(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? Critically explain.

Data Sources

Students may obtain data from any reputable source, including:

1. rba.org.au

2. imf.org.au

3. http://data.worldbank.org/products/wdi