Economics

You are welcome to choose any article on a current economic topic for each of your Current Event summaries. There is a link to submit each of the six summaries under the Assignments tab. Your article summary should be 1 page, double-spaced, using Times New Roman 12pt font. Possible questions to answer in your summary: Where did your article come from? What is the article’s main argument? Do you agree/disagree with the claim? What are the strengths/weaknesses of the article? Do you consider the article to be biased? Explain the economic concept in the article. Please provide APA format reference information about the article:

Gross domestic product (GDP) is defined as the value of final goods and services that are produced in a country’s territories within a certain time period, usually a year. In your paper, Assess the GDP’s importance. Examine the shortcomings of GDP in measuring a country’s economic health? Discuss using GDP to evaluate the business cycle. Examine factors that may affect the business cycle. Evaluate the health of the current U.S. economy by its GDP, business cycle, and economic growth. The Measure of Economic Health paper Must be three to four double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style resource  (Links to an external site.) . Must include a separate title page with the following: Title of paper Student’s name Course name and number Instructor’s name Date submitted For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013  (Links to an external site.) . Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice  (Links to an external site.)  resource for additional guidance. Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper. For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions  (Links to an external site.)  as well as Writing a Thesis Statement  (Links to an external site.) , refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources. Must use at least three scholarly, peer-reviewed, and/or other credible sources in addition to the course text. The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources  (Links to an external site.)  table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment. Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper guide.  (Links to an external site.) Must include a separate reference page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List  (Links to an external site.)  resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.

Competency 1 COMPETENCY: Globalization (Peng Chapters 1, 5, 6, 11) Explain the New, Evolutionary, and Pendulum views of Globalization. How do these differ from  one another? What is Foreign Direct Investment? What different political views exist on FDI? What benefits exist to a country receiving FDI? Elaborate. What costs exist to a country receiving FDI? Elaborate. How do resources and capabilities influence the competitive dynamics of a business? What is resource similarity and how does this impact competitive dynamics?   COMPETENCY: International Trade and Foreign Exchange Market (Peng Chapters 5, 7, 10) 1-     Give a description of the classical theory of international trade.  2-     How would the modern theory compare to the classical theory? 3-     Compare absolute advantage to comparative advantage. What differences exist? 4-     What is mercantilism and why is this an important term? 5-     What are the critical features of the product life cycle? 6-     How would you describe strategic trade? 7-     How are supply and demand related to the exchange rate of a country? 8-     Which theory came first, mercantilism or modern-day protectionism? 9-     If a company seeks to limit foreign exchange rate exposure in the forward direction, what is the most effective way to do this? 10-  What is transaction risk? 11-  Explain the concept of “hedging” as it relates to reducing various types of risk. 12-  What is the difference between currency hedging and strategic hedging? 13-  What advantages exist with first mover? 14-  What advantages exist with late mover? 15-  Consider the model of foreign market entries. How is scale-of-entry related/relevant?   Competency 2 COMPETENCY: Political and Economic Forces (Peng Chapter 2) 1-     How do institutions reduce uncertainty? 2-     Discuss and compare the three pillars (regulatory, normative, and cognitive) 3-     Compare formal and informal institutions. 4-     On what is the institution based view of global business grounded? What core propositions lie at the root of this view? 5-     How is global business affected by democracy? 6-     How is global business affected by totalitarianism? 7-     What are the differences between democracy and totalitarianism? 8-     Explain the core features of civil, common and theocratic law? How do they compare? 9-     What is a property right? In what way are property rights essential? 10-  What is an intellectual property right? 11-  Contrast the market, command, and mixed economy types. Competency 3 COMPETENCY: Consumer Behavior (Mankiw Chapter 21) 1-     What is an indifference curve? 2-     What are the four properties of an indifference curve? 3-     Explain marginal rate of substitution. 4-     What is a budget constraint? 5-     How might a budget constraint be impacted by an increase in income? 6-     What two graphical elements are needed in order to determine a consumer’s optimal point of consumption? 7-    How is a consumer’s optimal point of consumption determined precisely? What is the condition that must be met?   COMPETENCY: Firm Behavior under Different Market Structures (Mankiw Chapters 13-17) 1-     How is marginal cost derived? 2-     How is marginal cost related to total cost? 3-     What is the specific formula to calculate marginal cost? 4-  If Dave’s company has a total cost of $100 when quantity output is 5, and a total cost of $115 when quantity output is 6, what is the marginal cost of producing the 6th unit? 5-  Total cost is made of two types of costs, what are they? 6-     How does a firm determine to shut down in the short-run? What rule characterizes this? 7-     What is a price taker? Which of the market structures are characterized as being “price takers”? 8-     When a market is characterized as being a price taker, what fundamental shape does the demand curve for this market take? 9-     How is the demand curve for a perfectly competitive firm distinct from the demand curve for a monopolistic market? 10-  What does “downward sloping” with regards to a demand curve mean? 11- Where do firms with market power determine the quantity of product/service they will produce? 12-  What is the primary goal/objective of the firm? 13-  If the firm has price setting capacity, how will they use information about marginal costs and marginal revenues in order to accomplish their primary objective? 14-  Describe the basic distinctions between the market models with respect to: number of market participants, type of product being marketed, ease of entry/exit into the market, and the prevalence of advertising/marketing. 15-  What fundamental truth is realized when studying the behavior of an oligopolistic firm within the context/model called “prisoner’s dilemma”? 16-  How might an oligopolistic firm behave like a monopoly? What forces may prevent this?   Competency 4 COMPETENCY: Macroeconomic Principles (Mankiw Chapters 29 & 34) 1-     What tools does the Federal Reserve have with regards to monetary control? 2-     What are open market operations? 3-     When the Fed buys bonds, what impact does this have on the money supply and aggregate demand? 4-     When the Fed sells bonds, what impact does this have on the money supply and aggregate demand? 5-     What is a discount rate? 6-     When the Fed reduces the discount rate, what impact will this have on the money supply and the aggregate demand? 7-     When the Fed increases the discount rate, what impact will this have on the money supply and the aggregate demand? 8-     What is a reserve ratio? 9-     What would the Fed need to do with the reserve ratio in order to increase the money supply and aggregate demand in the economy? 10-  What would the Fed need to do with the reserve ratio in order to decrease the money supply and aggregate demand in the economy? 11-  If the Fed uses monetary policy in a way that increases money supply, what effect will this have on interest rates and aggregate demand (consider them separately)? 12-  If the government uses fiscal policy to increase government spending what impact will this have on interest rates and aggregate demand? 13-  If the government uses fiscal policy and cuts taxes, what effect will this have on interest rates and aggregate demand?   COMPETENCY: Microeconomic Principles (Mankiw Chapters 4 & 5) 1-     Explain the effect an income change might have on shifting the demand curve? 2-     What is the difference between a normal good and an inferior good? Explain. 3-     Explain how the price of related goods is related to changes in the demand curve? 4-     If Luke and I are the only sellers of paper in a given market, and Luke drops his prices for paper, how will this impact the demand for my paper? Which way will the demand curve shift? 5-     What other factors might influence the position of the demand curve? 6-     What numerical value determines whether or not a product/service is considered price elastic versus inelastic? 7-     What is income elasticity and how is it measured? 8-     What is price elasticity of demand? Explain the distinctions between elastic, inelastic, and unit-elastic. 9-     What two results stem from income elasticity? Why is this important to an economist? 10-  What is cross-price elasticity? How is this defined and what result comes from this measure of elasticity? 11-  Can you summarize the 3 types of elasticity, their equations, purpose and outcomes? 12-  In the net, how are price (P) and quantity (Q) changed by a simultaneous increase in demand and supply? 13-  In the net, how are price (P) and quantity (Q) changed by a simultaneous increase in demand and decrease in supply? 14-  In the net, how are price (P) and quantity (Q) changed by a simultaneous decrease in demand and supply? 15-  In the net, how are price (P) and quantity (Q) changed by a simultaneous decrease in demand and increase in supply?   Competency 5 COMPETENCY: International Trade (Mankiw Chapter 9) 1-     Explain the concept of a tariff. 2-     Explain dead weight loss. 3-     How are tariff’s and dead weight loss related? Explain. 4-     What are the two primary categories of trade barriers that exist? 5-     If an import tariff is imposed on coconuts that are imported into the U.S., how will this impact the price of coconuts for U.S. consumers? 6-     Why might a government be interested in imposed an import tariff on a good? What benefit would the government derive primarily? 7-     How would imposing an import tariff on cigars impact the domestic production of cigars? 8-     If an import tariff on coconuts was removed in the U.S., how would this impact the demand for coconuts by U.S. consumers? 9-     What would happen to the overall domestic demand for a good if an import tariff were imposed on that good? 10-  How does a tariff generally impact the following entities: consumers, producers, government? Compare the effects between the entities.

China is aggressively searching for resources and markets for produce sales and investment.  Is a U.S. policy of ignoring this beneficial to future U.S. economic growth?  Given macroeconomics what policy is best for the U.S. as a result?

What is the difference BETWEEN fixed and floating/fluctuating currtncy rates? Analyze how foreign exchange rate is determined when dealing with the business implications. Also, compute the exchange rate between the USA Dollar (fixed) and a country currency (floating) of your choice, then give the rates.  Go to https://www.oanda.com/currency/live-exchange-rates/  or www.xe.com/currencyconverter and monitor rates for 2 consecutive days – giving dates. Write 2 full pages of text not including your cover page and references, in APA Format. Policy: Use peer-reviewed journals or reputable articles from 2009 – present to support your research, in APA format.  No Wikipedia, BLOGS with ads from yahoo.com or google.com search engines; UKEssay.com; www.buzzle.com, study.com or site that challenge as they present a biased opinion. Please submit your assignment here and it will also check originality. Assignment is due on Sunday at midnight.

Option 1: Your economics professor assigns a group project for the course.  Describe the free-rider problem that can lead to a suboptimal outcome for your group.  To combat this problem, the instructor asks you to evaluate the contribution of your peers in a confidential report.  Will this evaluation have the desired effects?

Jack White is the newly appointed general manager of the pet food division of Strickland Corporation. He has completed a strategic review that has convinced him that the division needs to undergo rapid and substantial change in a number of areas, given the recent strategic moves of key competitors. Although Jack is new, he is familiar enough with the company to know that there will be significant resistance to the changes from a number of quarters. He also suspects that some of this resistance will come from people with the capacity to act in ways that could seriously impede successful change. Jack reflects on the situation. He believes that it is important to introduce the proposed changes soon, but he also recognizes that if he acts too quickly, he’ll have virtually no time to have a dialogue with staff about the proposed changes, much less involve them in any significant way. One option is to act speedily and to make it clear that “consequences” will follow for anyone not cooperating. He certainly has the power to act on such a threat. The risk, Jack knows, is that even if no one shows outright resistance, there’s a big difference between not cooperating and acting in a manner that reflects commitment. He knows that he needs the cooperation of key groups of staff and that sometimes “minimum-level compliance” can be as unhelpful as resistance when it comes to implementing change. “But maybe I’m exaggerating this problem,” he thinks to himself. “Maybe I should just go ahead with the change. If people don’t like it, they can leave. If they stay, they’ll come around.” But Jack is not sure. He considers another option. Maybe he should spend more time on building up support at least among key groups of managers and staff, if not more broadly across the organization. “Maybe,” he reflects, “the need to change is not quite as immediate as I think. I just know that I’d feel a whole lot better if this consultation could happen quickly.” Your Task, Jack respects your opinion on business matters and has asked you for your views on his situation. What would be your recommendation? What factors should Jack take into account in deciding what course of action to take? Your Task Jack respects your opinion on business matters and has asked you for your views on his situation. – What would be your recommendation? – What factors should Jack take into account in deciding what course of action to take? *Support your answers with 2 – 4 references

Prompt When it comes to analyzing market efficiency, we must weigh several related concepts. It forces us to look at how we use scarce resources, and it requires that we interrogate and apply many complex economic concepts. For this assignment, you’re going to analyze whether a market is efficient or inefficient. Create a 10-slide PowerPoint presentation. Step 1: Select a product that you are interested in. Describe this product. Step 2: Conduct in-depth research and find out which market structure this product exists in. Step 3: Create a presentation about the product. Make sure the presentation has at least 10 slides. Step 4: In your presentation, make sure you answer this question: What are some possibilities for increased efficiency for that product or market structure? Step 5: Make sure there is a References slide at the end of the presentation with at least 1 citation. This does not count as one of the required ten slides.

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to provide students with an opportunity to develop an independent analysis of an issue related to money and banking using concepts and theories learned in class.  Description: The term paper for this course is an open-ended assignment that is intended to sharpen your writing, research and critical analysis skills. The project is designed to ensure that you are familiar with the process of collecting financial/economic data from the web and analyzing it using the concepts and theories learned in class. The paper should focus on a topic of your choosing related to material covered in the course.  You should develop a position related to your topic and support that position through online research.   The paper should begin with a concise summary paragraph that (1) states the problem/issue/topic you have selected and (2) summarizes your position on the topic, anticipating your conclusion.  The remainder of the paper should explain and support your position.   Specifications: Please submit your topic for approval in the “Term Paper Topics” folder in the assignments section of the online classroom.  Your paper should include: ·      A narrative of up to 8 pages (not including title page, reference list, or appendices). ·      A title page ·      A reference list (using APA format) with at least seven sources, and ·      At least two graphs and/or tables In addition, at the conclusion of your paper please include a brief statement reflecting on what you feel you have learned from the assignment and how that learning may be applied to your life or work going forward. Please use APA format in-text citations in the body of your paper for all facts and figures and proof your paper for grammar and spelling.

Overview A market exists whenever buyers and sellers meet to exchange goods and services. A mall is a market, a street is a market, your classroom is a market, a garage sale is a market, and even the airplane you ride is a market. Markets are everywhere. Their primary purpose is to get suppliers (producers) and demanders (buyers) together to sell and buy at a price they both agree on. Market demand represents the sum of the individual demand for a commodity (a good or a service) from buyers in the market. On the other hand, market supply represents the total quantity of a commodity that producers are willing and able to provide to the buyers at a given price level. Market equilibrium occurs where the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded, and the market price (equilibrium price) is set at that quantity (equilibrium quantity). The equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity are not static, however, meaning that they change due to changes in market demand or market supply. A commodity or an idea might be a “hot item” and very popular at one point in time where people are willing to pay a high price for it, and producers will be willing to produce more of it because it is profitable. Smoking a cigarette at one point in time was considered a symbol of “a tough man” and smoking was acceptable everywhere, including inside hospitals! But what has changed for cigarettes? Whenever the demand for a commodity rises or declines, and whenever the production of a commodity expands or shrinks, it is certain that at least one market force or a set of market forces have taken place to cause this change. At the same time, whenever market demand and/or market supply changes, the market price and the quantity of that commodity available in the market changes, too. Dynamic and free markets are constantly changing due to changes in factors (determinants) that affect either demand, supply, or both. Analyzing and understanding the forces behind the shift in market demand and market supply determines the growth pattern of the commodity. Assignment Description In this assignment, we are going to analyze the changes in market demand and market supply for a commodity (a good or a service). In addition, we will also analyze how the changes in demand and supply affected the market price and production of this commodity. To do so, we will are going to address the key factors (determinants) that have caused the shift in demand and/or the shift in supply. The goal here is to provide an objective analysis of the forces that have caused this change in order to better understand the behavior of the market and to determine the potential growth or decline for this commodity. Some of the commodities that have experienced a drastic change (an increase or a decrease) in supply and/or demand in recent years are organic foods, cage-free eggs, social media, higher education, online education, healthcare services, online banking, online shopping, DVD players, digital cameras, fidget spinners, health clubs, bottled water, landlines, Cash for Gold, and fried food. You could use one of these commodities for your study or choose one you are familiar with or prefer. To start, select a commodity that you wish to analyze to determine changes in its market demand, market supply, equilibrium quantity (output), and equilibrium price. Your research should be structured with consistent and clear thoughts. It should be supported by facts and data, and you must base your results on these facts. Your conclusions should be thorough and based on your findings and understanding of supply and demand determinants. Writing Style and Page Number Requirements Font Type: Times New Roman or Arial Font Size: 12 Spacing: Double Number of Pages: Four to six pages, along with a separate Title page and a separate References page Outside Sources and TurnItIn Report Using External Sources: When you use information, facts, or data from external source (articles, news, facts, etc.) in your case study, you must properly cite the sources you obtain the information from using the APA format. A link to APA writing style resources is provided at the bottom of this page. Content Originality and TurnItIn: The majority of the text in your case study must be your own words, thoughts, opinion, interpretation, and/or viewpoints. The rule is that no more than 20% of the text in your case study can be from outside sources. Make sure you review the TurnItIn score next to your submitted document to verify that it meets the 20% (or less) requirements. If your submitted case study receives a TurnItIn score (percentage) more than 20% on the report, this means that more than 20% of the content of your case study matches other’s work and is not original. In this situation, you will need to revise the matching text (or a portion of it) in your case study and then resubmit your assignment. Then recheck the new TurnItIn score. To summarize, 80% or more of your final case study submission should be your own words and 20% or less can include properly cited outside sources. The TurnItIn originality report highlights the portions of the paper that are not original and closely matches another source. Structure and Requirements Title Page Title of the paper Name of the author E-mail address of the author Class name Professor’s name Date Introduction Describe your commodity and the market that commodity targets. Also, state when, how, and why it became popular or less popular. In addition, state the factors (demand determinants and supply determinants) that have caused its supply and demand to change and how those changes affected its price. Basically, why has demand and supply for that commodity changed? Data Obtain data from at least three credible sources (not Wikipedia) to provide facts about the changes in demand and supply. Use tables, graphs, and figures to support your argument. You could use figures that show the changes in demand and supply, as well as changes in the market price for the commodity. Analysis Use the findings from your data section to fully explain the growth or decline pattern of the supply and demand. Is the commodity growing or is it declining, and why? If it is growing, state the factors that led to its growth. If it is declining, state the factors that led to its decline. Conclusion Provide your own final thoughts, opinions, and understanding of the outcome. Do you believe this commodity is profitable for its producers? Or should they provide something different instead? Should they modify the commodity? Moreover, if you were to produce this commodity, what would you do to increase your revenue? Reference List Use at least three professional sources to support your argument. The references need to be in APA format. To learn more about APA format, click on the link below.