Economic Indicators Post
In your Economic Indicators Post you will gather relevant
economic statistics, such as the growth rate of real GDP, the unemployment
rate, and the inflation rate to describe the recent performance of the US
economy Economic Indicators Post Forum
on the Blackboard Discussion Board Your
Economic Indicators Post is worth up to 40 Points
The intent of this assignment is for you to apply what
youâve learned in the course about macro indicators to assess the current state
of the US economy In your Economic
Indicators post you will discuss three basic and commonly reported economic
indicators: real GDP, the inflation rate, and the unemployment rate in order to
assess the current performance of the US economy
The Economic Indicators Post corresponds to the following
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) for Econ 2: Principles of Macroeconomics:
1 Using employment and national income statistics students
will be able to describe and analyze the economy in quantitative terms
2 Students will be
able to utilize a simple contemporary economic model such as the aggregate
supply/aggregate demand model and describe the interrelationships among prices,
income and interest rates as they affect consumption, saving and investment
3 Students will be
able to explain and evaluate the economic challenges of unemployment,
inflation, and economic growth
Your Economic Indicators Post should be divided into four
separate sections and an appendix Each
section should contain at least one clearly delineated paragraph
1 GDP: In the first section of your post you should
describe the current state of the American economy using GDP statistics which
are discussed in Chapters 6 and 7 of your text
In this first section you will report the current level and growth rate
of real GDP At a minimum, you should
address the following questions/issues using the GDP statistics:
-What has been Real GDP growth during the past year?
-What has been real GDP growth during the past decade?
-Have ther been any recessions, financial crises in past ten
years? Explain
-In Chapter 6 you learned that GDP = C + I + G + X âM What is the percentage of current GDP that is
accounted for by each of these five components?
How big is the trade deficit relative to overall GDP?
– What is the federal government debt relative to GDP?
-GDP is an important measure of the nationâs economic health
because _____?
-What does GDP not tell us about an economy?
Primary Data sources for Section 1:
-You can find current information on GDP statistics at
wwwbeagov
-The St Louis Federal Reserve Bank has made available a
wonderful resource for finding and evaluating macroeconomic time series data
for the United States The St Louis Fed
has developed FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) which provides complete data
sets on virtually every economic measure that is freely available for the
United States: https://fredstlouisfedorg/
-The FRED Policy Dashboard: https://researchstlouisfedorg/dashboard/8781
and the Fiscal Policy Indicators page:
https://researchstlouisfedorg/dashboard/759 are recommended as sources
for your data
Trading Economics has a variety economic indicators,
historical data and forecasts for many countries including the United
States For US data see:
http://wwwtradingeconomicscom/united-states/indicators
2 Unemployment: In the second section of your post you
should describe the current state of the American economy using employment and
unemployment statistics which are discussed in Chapter 8 of your text At a minimum you should address the following
questions/issues using the Employment Report statistics:
-What is the current unemployment rate in the United
States?
-What has been the trend in the unemployment rate over the
last ten years?
-What is the current labor force participation rate?
-What has been the trend in the labor force participation
rate over the past ten years? What does
the trend in the labor force participation rate tell us about the current
economic situation?
-Are US unemployment rates distributed evenly across the
population? Which groups of Americans
currently have the highest unemployment rates?
Why do you think that unemployment rates are lower for individuals with
more education?
-Why shouldnât every adult without a job be classified as
part of the official unemployment rate?
-What are some problems with using the unemployment rate as
an accurate measure of joblessness?
Primary Data Sources for Section 2: The most important data source for employment
and unemployment is the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation
Report This report is probably the most
anticipated of all economic reportsâit measures the growth (or loss) of jobs,
whether individuals are in the workforce, and household earnings You can find the latest Employment Situation
Report and other labor market statistics at https://wwwblsgov/eag/eagushtm
FRED is your friend: https://fredstlouisfedorg/ You can find the âJobs Reportâ at
https://researchstlouisfedorg/dashboard/5461
3 Inflation: In the third section of your post you should
describe the current state of the American economy using inflation statistics
which are discussed in Chapter 9 of your text
At a minimum you should address the following questions/issues which
focus on using the Consumer Price Index:
-What does the Consumer Price Index measure?
-What is the current (12 month) inflation rate as measured
by the Consumer Price Index?
-Describe the pattern of the Consumer Price Index over the
past ten years?
-Why is the Consumer Price Index likely more relevant to
your own personal economic situation as compared to the other measures of
inflation discussed in Chapter 9?
–How might your personal inflation rate differ from the
average inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index?
-Is inflation a major economic concern for policy makers at
the present time?
Primary Data Sources for Section 3: You can find everything you need to know
about the Consumer Price Index at the Consumer Price Index page on the Bureau
of Labor Statistics website: https://wwwblsgov/cpi/ Go see FRED:
https://fredstlouisfedorg/
4 Summary: Utilizing
the macro information that you have collected how is the overall economy doing
now? Summarize the state of the economy
and discuss the implications of the macro measures that you have examined Do you think the economy is in good shape
today? Explain Is there additional information/data about
the economy that would valuable in describing the current state of economic
activity or to make an economic forecast?
5 Appendix: Include and describe at least one graph that
utilizes the Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply model that would illustrate the
current state of the economy The Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply Model is
explained in Chapter 11 of your text
Your graph(s) needs to be clearly labeled and explained carefully You can find a plethora of Aggregate
Demand/Aggregate Supply graphs in chapters 11-13 of your âtextâ There are sufficient graphs in Chapter 11 for
the purposes of illustration You can
cut and paste a graph from your digital text and discuss how it applies to your
analysis of the current state of the economy
Make sure that your graph includes an aggregate demand (AD) curve, a
short run aggregate supply (SRAS) curve, and a long run aggregate supply curve
(LRAS) curve
You are also welcome to draw your own AD/AS graph which you
can scan and paste into your post If
you have difficulty making your graphs visible in your Blackboard please attach
a copy of your post in Word or PDF as an attachment
Requirements:
-Your Economic Indicators Post should be divided into four
separate sections and an appendix Each
section should contain at least one clearly delineated paragraph
-Be concise in your writing Do not try to summarize
everything
-In addition evaluating the economic situation you should
make at least two thoughtful replies to the post of another student to receive
full credit for your post In your reply
you can expand and or clarify a point Offer an additional suggestion or
argument to support a position taken in the post Suggest ways in which an idea could be more
clearly expressed Identify passages
where you think the writer misunderstood a concept or applied it
incorrectly Disagree with a point or
position using economic reasoning If
you are disagreeing with the views of another student, please be constructive
and respectful Your replies should be
completed by Sunday, April 9
Research:
The primary data sources that you can use to complete your
post successfully are discussed above
You are welcome to find and utilize âauthoritativeâ sources written by
economists or serious economic journalists that analyze current macro
conditions If you do use outside
sources you should cite them, and then explain the information in your own
words
You are encouraged to include visual representations of the
data that you collect on the especially if FRED is utilized
Cite Your Sources: Cite any and all outside sources,
including blogs and websites, so that they can be found easily by other
readers The APA style of citation is
recommended although the MLA & Chicago styles are acceptable also Include a references (works cited) list for
all of your sources The Saddleback
College Library has resources that will help you cite your sources See:
https://wwwsaddlebackedu/library/citation Provide a hyperlink for all
information from the internet so that the reader can find the
article/post/information quickly on the web
Grading Rubric:
1) Clarity and conciseness of writing- 5 separate sections
with at least one paragraph in each section
2) Correct application of course concepts and Key Terms from
your text
3) Critical thinking – Did you back up any opinion with
economic reasoning? Is there evidence
that you understand the difference between positive and normative statements?
(See Chapter 2)
4) Sources-did you properly cite your sources?
You are responsible for checking to make sure that your post
is visible on Blackboard You are
responsible for double checking to make sure that your post is visible to
all Attach you post as an appendix in
PDF or Word format if you have any trouble with formatting within your Blackboard
thread but make sure that you post is visible within your thread