ECO 535 Wk 1 – Practice: Tradeoffs and Price Controls

ECO 535 Wk 1 – Apply: Economic Events Influence on Economic Activity Analysis

Write a 350- to 700-word analysis assessing how 1 of the following major economic events influenced supply, demand, and economic equilibrium in the US economic activity:

• Rapid price increases, such as caused by the 1973 oil embargo or the aftermath of a major hurricane
• Dramatic employment drops, such as the combined impact of the 2006 housing bubble burst and the subsequent Great Recession
• Crippling interest rates by the Federal Reserve, such as those of the 1975 – 1985 time period
• Collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of the Cold War, and the “peace dividend”
• The dot-com bubble from 1994 to 2000, and the subsequent dot-com crash

Cite at least 2 academically credible sources. The use of charts and tables to illustrate data is highly encouraged.

Format your assignment according to APA guidelines.

Submit your assignment.

ECO 535 Wk 2 – Practice: Wk 2 Practice Questions

ECO 535 Wk 2 – Apply: Summative Assessment: Economic Concentration Evaluation

Select 1 of the economic concentrations (clusters) below:

• Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA aerospace / defense industry
• Central California winemaking industry
• Hollywood movie industry
• Silicon Valley Technology hub
• Texas / Louisiana Gulf Coast crude oil and natural gas production and refining
• Pre-1994 vs Post-1994 US auto and light truck production and the reasons for the change in economic concentration

Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper evaluating economists’ assessments of the role the 4 factors of production played in determining how the economic concentration you selected has evolved. Complete the following in your paper:

• Analyze how the economic concentration in the area you chose was influenced by competition and pricing.
• Analyze how the economic concentration in the area you chose influenced the supply chain.
• Analyze which of the 4 factors of production were the most and least important in determining the economic concentration of the area you chose.
• Predict changes you anticipate for the area of economic concentration you chose. Support your predictions.

Consider the resources provided and other academically appropriate sources. The use of charts and tables to illustrate data is highly encouraged.

Cite at least 2 academically credible sources.

Format your assignment according to APA guidelines. 

Submit your assignment.

ECO 535 Wk 3 – Practice: Money and Monetary Policy

ECO 535 Wk 3 – Apply: Federal Reserve and the Great Recession Analysis

Choose 1 of the following topics related to the Great Recession:

• The housing price bubble, collapse, foreclosures, bailout of underwater mortgages
• Subprime mortgages and derivatives, bailout of FNMA, Freddie Mac and AIG
• The banking industry crisis, bailout of commercial and investment banks

Write a 350- to 700-word analysis of 1 of the following corrective actions taken by the Federal Reserve as a result of the crisis:

• Quantitative easing
• Purchase of toxic assets from financial institutions
• Paying interest on reserve balances

Address the following in your analysis:

• Actions taken by the Federal Reserve to mitigate the crisis
• How the corrective action helped to restore stability to the financial system
• How the corrective action should prevent recurrence of a similar crisis

Note: Use of charts and graphs is encouraged with appropriate citations. Any charts or graphs retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED website may only be included when the data sources used by FRED are US government sources such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis or the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Cite at least 2 academically credible sources.

Format your assignment according to APA guidelines. 

Submit your assignment.

ECO 535 Wk 4 – Practice: Deficits, Debt, and Fiscal Policy

ECO 535 Wk 4 – Apply: Summative Assessment: Government Intervention Analysis

Analyze 1 of the following government intervention programs:

• Countercyclical fiscal policies (countering economic disruptions such as the housing bubble and the Great Recession)
• US agriculture support programs
• Assistance for Low Income Families (choose 1)
• Housing vouchers
• Earned Income Tax Credit (including Child Tax Credit)
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
• Low income healthcare (choose 1)
• Medicaid (including Children’s Health Insurance Program).
• Affordable Care Act expansion
• Social insurance programs (choose 1)
• Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)
• Medicare
• Unemployment insurance

Write a 700- to 1,050-word summary of your analysis. Identify the intervention and the market failure leading up to the intervention. Complete the following in your paper:

• Analyze the arguments for government intervention as opposed to arguments for market-based solutions. Hint: See the information about market failures.
• Examine who has been helped and who has been hurt by the selected government intervention.
• Examine externalities and unintended consequences of such intervention. For example, consider whether the SNAP program and health coverage for low-income families result in higher future tax revenues because low-income children grow up healthier and produce higher incomes over their lifetimes.
• Analyze whether cost of the intervention you selected as a share of GDP or the number of participants is increasing, decreasing, or varies with the state of the economy, based on the cost trend(or number of participants) since its inception or since 2000.
• Analyze credible economists’ opinions on the success or failure of the intervention that you chose in achieving its objectives.
• Recommend whether the program should be continued as is, discontinued, or modified based on your conclusions. Defend your recommendation.

Note: Use of charts and graphs is encouraged with appropriate citations. Any charts or graphs retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED website may only be included when the data sources used by FRED are US government sources such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis or the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Cite at least 2 academically credible sources.

Format your assignment according to APA guidelines. 

Submit your assignment.

ECO 535 Wk 5 – Practice: Wk 5 Practice Questions

ECO 535 Wk 5 – Apply: World Economies Comparison Presentation

The economic growth and trade competitiveness of countries can be influenced by the economic, political, and cultural development within the country. There are several countries that can be compared to see how a successful economy’s decisions differed from a less-successful economy.

Step 1: Select Economies

Review the pairs of economies listed below. Each pair has 1 highly successful country and 1 less successful country, except for NAFTA /EU.

• NAFTA vs. European Union (world’s two largest economic entities)
• China vs. India (world’s two most populous countries)
• South Korea vs. North Korea (two polar economic opposites, one people)
• Venezuela vs. Saudi Arabia (world’s two largest sources of oil reserves)
• Nigeria vs. Democratic Republic of the Congo (functioning government and civil order vs. struggling government and violent clashes among factions; note: the Republic of the Congo is not the same country as the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Research the economies for your chosen pair of countries.

Compare similarities and differences between your chosen countries/economies.

Step 2: Create a Presentation – Evaluate Economic Growth and Advantages

In a 12- to 16-slide presentation with detailed speaker’s notes and visual elements, including graphs and tables, explain how their economic, political, and cultural development since 1992 has influenced their economic growth and trade competitiveness.

Use tables or graphs to support your analysis of the following economic statistics/indicators of your 2 chosen economies through the most recent year available since 2009 (the trough of the last economic cycle):

• GDP per capita growth over time
• Inflation rate over time
• Unemployment rate over time
• Exports as a percentage of GDP over time
• National government debt as a percentage of GDP

Whenever possible, plot the metric for both economies on the same chart.

Evaluate why the economic growth of the 2 economies/countries varied.

• Discuss how international trade influenced the strength of each economy.
• Discuss the role of value chains and value-added production.

Analyze how the failure to use value-added trade measures distorts trade statistics.

Examine at least 2 industries that have provided each economy a comparative advantage in world trade.

Cite at least 2 academically credible sources.

Submit your assignment.

ECO 535 Wk 6 – Practice: Wk 6 Practice Questions

ECO 535 Wk 6 – Apply: Summative Assessment: International Trade Summary

Consider the following:

• Tariffs are paid by the citizens of the country imposing tariffs, not by the citizens of the country producing the products upon which the tariffs are levied.
• The term “trade deficits” is a misnomer. Every country’s trade is always in balance.
• Trade deficits do not mean the US no longer produces anything to export. The US is the world’s second largest manufacturer and the world’s second largest exporter of manufactured goods.
• Trade deficits reflect a strong economy. Trade deficits rise during economic expansions and fall during economic contractions. Unemployment falls as trade deficits rise and rises as trade deficits fall.
• Imports and exports are complements, not competitors. Both are necessary and both contribute to economic growth.
• Roughly one-third of all US imports and exports is trade between US multinational companies and their overseas subsidiaries.
• Foreign-owned companies operating in the US number in the thousands and provide directly or indirectly jobs for more than 13 million US workers (roughly, 10% of the US workforce).
• US trade deficit in goods in 2018 (as a % of GDP) was the same as it was 5, 10 and 15 years earlier.
• The rise in US goods trade deficit with China has not increased the US total goods trade deficit. It has been offset by reduced goods imports from other trading partners.
• There is a strong correlation between the rise in world trade and:
• The rise in world GDP
• The dramatic fall in the world’s extreme poverty rate
• The rise in world life expectancy
• For every US manufacturing job lost to trade between 2000 and 2010, seven US jobs were lost to domestic productivity improvements. Those seven jobs cannot be brought back from overseas because they never left the US.

Write a 700- to 1,050-word evaluation of credible economists’ unbiased opinions on the benefits, costs, and results of current US trade and tariff policies. Complete the following in your evaluation:

• Evaluate how US trade policy changes in the last 2 years affect global trade activities by multinational corporations.
• Discuss credible economists’ opinions on the long-term effects of trade and tariff policies changes in the last 2 years.
• Explain the effect of recent changes to trade and tariff policies have had on your employer, you, or someone you know.

Cite at least 2 academically credible sources.

Format your assignment according to APA guidelines.

Submit your assignment.