ECO 372

ECO 372 Week 1 Summary

The first week in this course went by quickly!  I think the reason for this is the subject matter which I find very interesting. The macroeconomics course is necessary for rounding out my education, but now that I am working on the nuts and bolts of my degree. Along the road of hard-

knocks I learned quickly that to be successful as an economist, you have to build a strong base, which this class “Principle of Macroeconomics” teaches us.

ECO 372 Wk 1 DQ 1

Why is economics considered a social science? What role does economics play in your personal and professional lives?    



ECO 372 Wk 1 DQ 2

What is the difference between real and nominal GDP? Does GDP accurately reflect the nation’s welfare? Why or why not? How can a country’s GDP be manipulated? In your opinion, is the U.S. GDP being manipulated? Explain your answer

ECO 372 Wk 1 DQ 3

 What are the different types of unemployment? How do they affect the economy in terms of growth, labor force, and price of labor? Cite specific examples to support your response.



ECO 372 Wk 1 DQ 4

Identify economic factors that affect the real GDP, the unemployment rate, the inflation rate, and a key interest rate. How do you predict the economy will perform in the next two years given the current state of two of the economic factors you identified? How might your organization

be affected by these changes?

ECO 372 Week 2 Complete Work



ECO 372 Week 2 Individual Fundamentals of Macroeconomics Paper

Macro Economics is a study which is concerned with the economy as a whole and the level of total output which is also referred to as national income is a very important variable in any economy. National income measures the value of an output produced in an economy over a period of time and the policy makers should be aware of the level of economic activity taking place within the country on behalf of the nationals.



ECO 372 Week 2 Learning Team Reflection Economic Forecasting Paper

The resources that I will use for the historic economic data and for the economic forecast data are:



US Census (http://www.census.gov/): Quantitative Source

Forecasts (http://www.forecasts.org/data/): Quantitative Source

Internet: Qualitative and Quantitative Source



The US census source is valuable because it contains records of all historic US economic data. It also has a separate page that deals with the foreign trade. So, overall it’s a completely reliable source of massive economic data.

“Forecasts” is a website that predicts the economic forecasts. It is very useful in case I need to have an idea about economic forecasts.

Internet, as we all know is a brilliant source of information. Anything and everything is available on the internet.

ECO 372 Week 2 Summary



Week 2 for ECO 372 class was a good one. The week went quite smoothly. I understood the GDP topic very quickly as it interests me a lot. I did a good amount of research on internet while answering this week DQs. I have already. I learned a lot of things from this week. Although I did a

great deal of research in answering the DQs but still, I attempted the DQ 2 (With Numerical Data). Here it is:



ECO 372 Wk 2 DQ 1



Explain the viewpoints of classical and Keynesian economists. How did the economy that existed at the time of these theories influence them? Which theory is more appropriate for the economy today? Why?

ECO 372 Wk 2 DQ 2

Why do Keynesian economists believe market forces do not automatically adjust for unemployment and inflation? What is their solution for stabilizing economic fluctuations? Why do they believe changes in government spending affect the economy differently than changes in income

taxes?



ECO 372 Wk 2 DQ 3

In your opinion, which two determinates currently have the greatest impact on aggregate demand and supply? Justify your response with an example.



ECO 372 Wk 2 DQ 4

What is the difference between contractionary and expansionary fiscal policies? Which is more appropriate today? Explain your answer. How might contractionary and expansionary fiscal policies affect your organization?



ECO 372 Week 3 Complete Work



ECO 372 Week 3 Learning Team Aggregate Demand and Supply Models

The United States economy has suffered the worst recession of the post-World War II era in 2007 and 2008, and has endured an anemic recovery since.  However, the economic landscape may be changing.  United States unemployment has fallen for four consecutive months, down from

9% in September to 8.3% in January. Four economic factors (unemployment rate, expectation, consumer income, and interest rates) affect supply and demand in different ways as discussed in this paper.

Unemployment

ECO 372 Week 3 Learning Team Reflection

Week Three Reflection - Team A

This week’s reflection will be more about the roadblocks and obstacles the learning team has encountered and less about the individual summaries of our learning experiences.

ECO 372 Weekly Summary Week 3

This week did not get off to a good start I feel like I haven’t learnt anything; do to a tragedy my family had to deal with. But what I did learn is that people try to judge you base on your action, which is not always good. Life is full of surprises, let down, sickness and losing love one, which is

nothing we can control. I felt like one team member should have been a little more consider to me he posted something up that should have been discuss between him and I but instead everyone seen what he put up after I had explain that there was a situation in which I did not wanted to go

into detail about. And I apologize if I did not handle it right, and I am sorry I let the team down.

ECO 372 Wk 3 DQ 1

What are the uses of money? How do commercial banks and Federal banks create money? Is monetary policy conducted independently in the United States? Explain your answer. Is it important for monetary policy to remain independent from all parties? Why or why not?

ECO 372 Wk 3 DQ 2

What is the difference between contractionary and expansionary monetary policy? What is the intention of each policy under a depression, recession, or robust economy? Which type of monetary policy is more appropriate today and why?

ECO 372 Wk 3 DQ 3

What happens to the money supply, interest rates, and the economy if the Federal Reserve is a net seller of government bonds? What happens to the money supply, interest rates, and the economy if the Federal Reserve is a net buyer of government bonds. Why would the government

implement a stimulus program into the economy?

ECO 372 Wk 3 DQ 4


Rank the factors that contribute to the discount interest rate from most important to least important. Justify your rankings.



ECO 372 Week 4 Complete Work



ECO 372 Week 4 Individual Federal Reserve Presentation



ECO 372 Week 4 Learning Team Reflection

Week Four Reflection- Team A

In week four we came back together as a team.  In the previous week we had a few roadblocks that we encountered as a team, but we pulled through and accomplished our goals we had set out as a team for this week.  We still do not have a designated team coordinator for our team, but we are

doing the best we can and communicating effectively to get assignments done as a team.  With everyone working together this week things went smoothly for us as opposed to the previous week.   As a team we did not start off on such a great foot because we had some events come up with

a few of our members (myself and Georgia) it opened our eyes as a team.  Situations do come up and we have no control over it.  The only thing we can do is pull together and help out as much as we can.  The main goal of a team member is to communicate effectively, work together and

voice opinions without criticizing and hurting the feelings of fellow classmates.  This was a learning experience for the entire team.  

ECO 372 Week 4 Summary



ECO 372 Wk 4 DQ 1


How does a governm
ent budget deficit affect the economy? Identify two periods in recent history in which the United States has run budget deficits. What were the reasons for the deficits during those time periods?

ECO 372 Wk 4 DQ 2

How does a government budget surplus affect the U.S. economy? Identify two periods in recent history in which the United States has run budget surpluses. What were the reasons for the surpluses during those time periods?

ECO 372 Wk 4 DQ 3


What are the potential consequences of a country having a large overall debt? If you were in the position to implement a solution for the country’s long-term debt, what would it be and why?



ECO 372 Wk 4 DQ 4

What are the positive and negative aspects of budget deficits and surpluses? What policy is best for today’s economy? Explain your answer.



ECO 372 Week 5 Complete Work



ECO 372 Week 5 Individual International Trade and Finance Speech


International trade and finance

In some ways the United States and Japanese are the biggest competitors in the international trade because both countries are producing many of the same goods.For example, Toshiba’s biggest competitor in the personal computer is Dell.After the emergence of world trade organization the

volume of the international trade has increased too large and countries are actively participating in the trade to push their gross domestic product.And, this active participation in the trade allows them to specialize in what they do best and to enjoy a greater variety of goods and services.

This paper (speech) will examine more deeply about the comparative advantages, exchange rate risks and trade barriers in the international trade and finance.

ECO 372 Week 5 Learning Team Fiscal Policy Paper


Introduction

           Any nation’s fiscal policies are determined by Government authorities’ only to, stabilize the economy the Government bodies usually the President of the country or the Congress to set the fiscal policies. For instance, the government spending usually increases when the economy is

slowing down and the increasing government expenditures will lead to increase the autonomous investment and reduce the unemployment rates in the economy. The same way tax payments received by the government will decrease automatically when the country is heading towards the

recession.

“Moreover, to the automatic responses of fiscal policy, governments may make discretionary fiscal changes in the face to an economic downturn” (Krugman, et.al. 2009).

ECO 372 Week 5 Summary



ECO 372 Wk 5 DQ 1


Explain how foreign exchange rates are determined. How do changes in interest rates, inflation, productivity, and income affect exchange rates? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a weak versus a strong dollar for imports, exports, international and domestic markets?

ECO 372 Wk 5 DQ 2

Who benefits from a tariff or quota? Who loses? Why would domestic markets benefit from protectionist trade policies? How do protectionist trade policies affect a government’s wealth and fiscal policy?
ECO 372 Wk 5 DQ 3


What is the effect of a trade surplus? What is the effect of a trade deficit? How do trade deficits and surpluses affect the industry in which you work?



ECO 372 Wk 5 DQ 4


Why are trade agreements important for the various countries involved? How is international trade related to the U.S. standard of living as opposed to the standard of living of a small industrial nation or a developing nation? How does international trade affect a country’s standard of

living? What impact does it have on the way Americans live life, spend, consume, and so on.?