8-1 Project Submission
Competencies
In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:
• Make decisions informed by macroeconomic principles and the business cycle
• Determine the economic impact of historical and current events using models of macroeconomics
• Assess how changes to macroeconomic policies impact the economy
Scenario
You have just completed your seven-year term as the chief economic policy advisor responsible for managing the economy of the nation of Econland. You are expected to create a report for the incoming administration. In this outgoing report, you will summarize your macroeconomic policy decisions and the economic outcomes for Econland. The purpose of this report is to share the lessons you’ve learned over your term and promote sound macroeconomic decision making moving forward.
Directions
First, assemble the materials that you will need to complete this assignment:
- Access the Macroeconomics Simulation: Econland from Harvard Business Review and select either the Rollercoaster or Stagnation scenarios. Once you have completed your final year of your seven-year term, you can access the final reports under the Dashboard and Reports tabs at the top of the webpage. You will use these charts, graphs, and other visualizations to illustrate your report in the indicated areas of the template (for example, Table 1.1). Reach out to your instructor if you have any questions about accessing these resources.
- Review and use the Project Template located in the What to Submit section.
o The cover page, Table of Contents, and Introduction sections of your report are provided and should remain standard in all submissions except where indicated in the template. You should read the brief Introduction section, as it provides insight into the purpose and structure of the deliverable, and add the high-level descriptions where prompted.
o There are placeholders in the template for your data visualizations (e.g., charts, graphs, tables, etc.). These placeholders are meant to give you a rough approximation of the placement of the visualizations that are required. You should replace the placeholders with the appropriate, indicated images in each case. To create an isolated image from the simulation data, it is recommended that you use a snipping tool or other image-editing software to copy and paste your data visualizations into the template. See the relevant tutorials in the Supporting Materials section for more information.
o You are expected to reference any source material used in your report with appropriate citations. To support you, a References page has been added to the project template with the citation for the course’s reading already provided. Any other references you add should be cited according to APA format.
Once you have assembled the required materials listed above, you can now begin drafting your economic summary report by completing the following steps: - The first section of your report is the Introduction, in which you will personalize the provided content with the information related to your term (i.e., your simulation results) as the chief economic policy advisor for the nation of Econland. Follow the instructions in the template for contextualizing this section, including adding Table 3 from your simulation report to the indicated area of the template (i.e., Table 1.1). Then, add a two- to three-sentence summary specifying which underlying scenario you chose and your overall performance and approval rating.
- Taxation Policies: In the Fiscal Policies: Taxation section of your report, discuss the taxation policies of Econland for the public and your successor. Within this section, you should add an image of Table 1 from your simulation results to the indicated area of the template (i.e., Table 2.1). Then, answer the following questions in the paragraphs below the table:
o Explain your intent for the taxation policy decisions you made over your seven-year term. What were the macroeconomic principles or models that influenced your decision making?
o Identify the impact of your changes to the income and corporate tax rates. How were consumption and investment affected by your tax-policy decisions? Explain these dynamics using specific macroeconomic principles from the course reading.
o Compare and contrast the impact of your tax policy decisions with those of current or historical examples in the United States. What do these examples demonstrate about the validity of macroeconomic models? Be sure to cite your research appropriately. (See the Supporting Materials section.) - Government Spending: In the Fiscal Policies: Government Expenditure section of your report, discuss government spending policies of Econland for the public and your successor. Within this section, you should add an image of the “Real GDP Growth” and “Unemployment Rate” graphs from your simulation results and use an aggregate demand and aggregate supply (AD/AS) model to the indicated area of the template (i.e., Figures 3.1 and 3.2). Images of the AD/AS model can be found in the course reading or any reputable online source. Then, answer the following questions in the paragraphs below the figures:
o Explain your decision-making regarding government expenditure and how it changed based on the macroeconomic conditions. What was the intent of your fiscal policy decisions in response to the given economic climate?
o Evaluate your fiscal policy decisions, including how they impacted key macroeconomics factors such as real GDP growth and unemployment. To what extent did your policies yield positive or negative outcomes?
o Refer to the AD/AS model to support your analysis in this section of your report. - Monetary Policies: In the Monetary Policies section of your report, discuss the monetary policies of Econland for the public and your successor. Within this section, you should add an image of the “Inflation Rate” graph from your simulation results to the indicated area of the template (i.e., Figure 4.1). Then, answer the following questions in the paragraphs below the figure:
o Explain how you changed the interest rate levels and how these changes impacted other macroeconomic factors such as inflation, consumption, investments, GDP, and foreign trade. Provide specific examples to help illustrate.
o Compare and contrast the impact of your monetary policies with those of current or historical examples in the United States. What do these examples demonstrate about the validity of macroeconomic models? Be sure to cite your research appropriately. (See the Supporting Materials section.) - Global Context: In the Global Context section of your report, you will expand your discussion from the particular case of Econland to consider the wider global context. Analyze the impacts of openness to trade in general. Why and how are the impacts of monetary and fiscal policies different in a closed economy versus an open economy? Support your claims with specific details from the course reading.
- Conclusions: In the Conclusions section of your report, draw your overall conclusions about the relevance and significance of macroeconomics for the public and your successor.
o Assess the effectiveness of your economic policy decisions. Did your economic policy decisions produce the anticipated results? Did your macroeconomic principles and models behave in ways that you expected? Provide specific examples to illustrate.
o Evaluate how consumer confidence might have impacted the outcomes of your policy decisions for the economy of Econland. Why is consumer confidence a relevant factor for making informed macroeconomic decisions? - Finally, ensure that all of your sources are properly cited using in-line citations and references according to APA format.
Supporting Materials
The following resources support your work on the project:
Video: How to Use the Snipping Tool (Beginner’s Guide) (for PC)
Use this tutorial for help with snipping, copying, and pasting your data visualizations into your project template.
A captioned version of this video is available: How to Use the Snipping Tool (Beginner’s Guide) (CC).
Resource: Is There a Snipping Tool for Mac?
Use this tutorial for help with snipping, copying, and pasting your data visualizations into your project template.
Resource: APA Style Basics
Use this resource to support your in-line citations and full references in the References section of your project template.
Resource: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Use this resource to support your research for the U.S. Comparisons portions of the Fiscal Policy: Taxation and Monetary Policies sections of your report.
Resource: Congressional Budget Office: Budget and Economic Data
Use this resource to support your research for the U.S. Comparisons portions of the Fiscal Policy: Taxation and Monetary Policies sections of your report.
Resource: White House: Economy & Jobs
Use this resource to support your research for the Fiscal Policy: Taxation and Monetary Policies sections of your report.
Project Rubric
Criteria Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Taxation Policies: Decisions Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Explains the intent of the taxation policy decisions and provides specific macroeconomic principles or models that influenced the decision making Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include providing specific macroeconomic principles or models Does not attempt criterion 8
Taxation Policies: Impacts Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Identifies the impact of different income and corporate tax rates, including the effects on consumption and investment, and provides specific macroeconomic principles to support the claims Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include providing specific macroeconomic principles to support the claims Does not attempt criterion 9
Taxation Policies: U.S. Comparison Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Compares and contrasts the impact of the Econland tax policies with current or historical examples in the United States, and includes a discussion about the validity of the underlying macroeconomic models Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include drawing appropriate conclusions about the validity of the underlying macroeconomic models Does not attempt criterion 9
Government Spending: Decisions Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Explains the decision-making process regarding Econland government expenditure and the intent of the fiscal policy decisions based on the macroeconomic conditions Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include discussing the intent of the fiscal policy decisions Does not attempt criterion 8
Government Spending: Impacts Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Evaluates the fiscal policy decisions, and explains if the policies positively or negatively impacted key macroeconomics factors such as real GDP growth and unemployment Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include discussing how the policies impacted key macroeconomic factors such as real GDP growth and unemployment Does not attempt criterion 9
Government Spending: AD/AS Model Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Refers to the AD/AS model to support the analysis of one’s own fiscal policy decisions Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions Does not attempt criterion 8
Monetary Policies: Impacts Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Explains how changes in interest rate levels impacted other macroeconomic factors such as inflation, consumption, investments, GDP, and foreign trade, providing specific examples to help illustrate Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include citing specific examples Does not attempt criterion 9
Monetary Policies: U.S. Comparison Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Compares and contrasts the impact of Econland’s monetary policies with those of current or historical examples in the United States, and includes a discussion about the validity of the underlying macroeconomic models Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include drawing appropriate conclusions about the validity of the underlying macroeconomic models Does not attempt criterion 9
Global Context Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Analyzes the different impact of monetary and fiscal policies in a closed economy versus an open economy and supports the claims with details from the course reading Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include supporting claims with details from the course reading Does not attempt criterion 9
Conclusions: Principles and Model Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Assesses the effectiveness of the economic policy decisions using specific examples to illustrate the claims Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include providing specific examples to illustrate the claims Does not attempt criterion 9
Conclusions: Consumer Confidence Index Exceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated manner Evaluates how consumer confidence impacted the outcomes of Econland policy decisions, including why consumer confidence is a relevant factor for making informed macroeconomic decisions Shows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include explaining why consumer confidence is a relevant factor for making informed macroeconomic decisions Does not attempt criterion 9
Articulation of Response Submission has no errors related to citations, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or organization and integrates all required tables and figures correctly Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or organization preventing understanding of ideas Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or organization preventing understanding of ideas Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or organization preventing understanding of ideas 4
Total: 100%