Principles of Macroeconomics
Research Project Template
This template presents the expected structure and format of your research project. You are free to customize this template as you like (e.g. use different colours, fonts, add pictures, etc.).
- Introduction
In this section, introduce the purpose of your research project, the main research question of interest and the country you will be examining.
- Country Background
In this section, set the context of your report by giving an overview of your country’s: (i) main characteristics (e.g. level of development, geography, population size, natural resources, main trading partners, etc.); (ii) major economic and/or social events in the last decade; (iii) current economic and/or social challenges.
Economic Performance
In this section, assess the extent to which your assigned country has been achieving the 3 main macroeconomic goals of: (i) Promoting economic growth; (ii) Limiting Unemployment; (iii) Keeping Prices Low and Stable during the last decade.
You must support your assessment by presenting and interpreting data onat least 2 appropriate macroeconomic measures for each goal and at least one graph or data table on each measure.
In your assessment of each measure, you may:
(i) provide a definition of each measure;
(ii) compare the level of each measure at the beginning and the end of the period of interest;
(iii) find the average annual percentage growth during the period of interest;
(iv) track the evolution of each measure over time and identify an overall trend (i.e. increasing vs. decreasing);
(iv) interpret the meaning of each measure (i.e. What does it mean if a certain measure is decreasing/increasing over time?);
(v) try digging a little deeper into the drivers of these trend (i.e. Are there any major economic and/or social events occurring in the country that may explain this increase/decrease?).
- Economic Growth
Assess the evolution of different measures of economic growth over the last 10 years (i.e.Real GDP, Nominal GDP, GDP per capita over time and in terms of annual percentage growth).
- Inflation
Assess the evolution of different measures of the price level over the last 10 years (i.e. GDP deflator, CPI, inflation rate).
Unemployment
Assess different measures of the labour force over the last 10 years (i.e. labour force participation rate, unemployment rate for different groups: males, females, youths).
- Other Indicators
Assess other measures of economic progressover the last 10 years (i.e. Human Development Index (HDI), Happiness, Poverty Levels, Equality, Environment, Health, Education, etc.).
- Conclusions
In this section, conclude your report by restating the main research question of your study, summarizing the main findings and giving your overall judgement on your assigned country’s economic performance.
References
At the end of your report, remember to cite all sources used according to this format:
Mankiw, N. (2009). Principles of economics (5th ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western
Principles of Macroeconomics Research Project
[10 Points]
Overview:
This project centers on assessing the economic performance of your assigned country over the last 10 years. To assess your country’s performance, you must present and interpret data on appropriate macroeconomic measures and comment on their evolution within the last decade.
Requirements:
Your report should be typed and between 2-3 pages long(not including data, graphs or references). Your report must include each of the following:
- Country background:Providing some context to your report by giving an overview of your country’s: (i) main characteristics (e.g. geography, population size, natural resources, etc.); (ii) major economic and/or social events in the last decade; (iii) current economic and/or social challenges.
- Assessment of Economic Performance:Assessing the extent to which your assigned country is achieving the 3 main macroeconomic goals of: (i) Promoting economic growth; (ii) Limiting Unemployment; (iii) Keeping Prices Low and Stable.You must support your assessment by presenting and interpreting data onat least 2 appropriate macroeconomic measuresfor each goal and at least one graph or data table on each measure.
- References: Including referencesfor all sources used (including in-text citation and a reference list at the end of the report). In total, you should include a minimum of fivesources. Please see the below link for referencing conventions: http://www.citethisforme.com/harvard-referencing
Principles of Macroeconomics Grading Guidelines:
Requirement | Points Possible |
Country Background | 1 |
Assessment of Economic Performance: 1. Economic Growth 2. Limiting Unemployment 3. Keeping Prices Low & Stable | 6 |
Conclusions & Judgement | |
References | 1.5 |
Grammar, Spelling and Formatting | 1.5 |
Total | 10 |
Principles of Macroeconomics Potential Data Sources:
- World Bank, World Development Indicators (WDI): https://data.worldbank.org/products/wdi
- International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Financial Statistics (IFS) Database:
http://data.imf.org/?sk=4C514D48-B6BA-49ED-8AB9-52B0C1A0179B
- International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Economic Outlook (WEO) Database: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2018/01/weodata/index.aspx
- International Labour Organization (ILO), Statistics & Databases:
https://www.ilo.org/global/statistics-and-databases/lang–en/index.htm
- United Nations (UN)Data: http://data.un.org/
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), World Factbook:
- Academic journals, newspaper articles, etc.
- Any other reputable data sources (P.S. Wikipedia does not count, unless the original citation is used)
Principles of Macroeconomics Submission Instructions:
- Student Information:Please include your name, student ID and section number in a separate cover page or at the start of your assignment.
- Paper Submission: Please submit your typed and printed report by no later thanTuesday the 6th of November at 3pm.
- Electronic Submission: Please upload your report in word formaton Blackboard by no later than Tuesday the 6th of November at 11:59pm (midnight).
- Late Submissions:Late submissions (either paper or electronic) will incur a penalty of 10% per day late of the total assignment grade.
Principles of Macroeconomics