Economics 202, Summer 2018

Country Update Assignment   (170 points)

This assignment requires you to research and synthesize macroeconomic information for two countries. For each country, you will present the research results in one of three ways and upload the product to Canvas for peer review and instructor evaluation.

3 options

·         Video (approx. 3-4 minutes)

·         Narrated Slide Show (18-20 slides, limit of 4 minutes, must be narrated)

·         Essay (11-15 paragraphs, plus required tables and charts/graphs)

Your country update will need to have the following components. Note that all text or words used needs to be in your own words – do not simply copy from a website or other source.

You should have at least 2-3 sources for each component that you are summarizing from. Be sure to check a number of sources to make sure that you are covering the most important points for the required topic components (1-6).

1.       Short introduction to the country’s location and recent important economic or political events, a map showing the region of the world where the country is and a map of the country showing the major cities.

2.      Table of the main 2017 (or most recent - so use 2016 for this and the data below if 2017 is not available) macroeconomic indicators – GDP, GDP Growth rate, inflation rate, unemployment rate, value of the currency compared to the $US, and an explanation of the recent trends for these indicators.

3.       Current strengths and weaknesses of the three most important industry sectors for the country

4.      Summary of the 2-3 main labor-related issues (1^st country), or environmental issues (2^nd country) facing the country and the economic implications of those issues.

5.      Summary of the 2-3 biggest challenges facing the country in the next 10-20 years

6.      Forecast how the country’s economy is expected to do over the next 5 years

7.       In addition to the topic components listed above, include at least 4 graphs or charts, in color, that you create (label the graphs fully and fonts need to be large enough to read easily – nothing smaller than 12 point for papers, 14 point or larger for slides or video)

1.       Per capita real GDP since 1997 (data every 5 years)

2.      Annual real GDP growth rate 2008-2017 (data every year)

3.       Per capita exports and imports 2008-2017 (on one graph - data every year)

4.      Data related to the important labor (1^st country) or environmental issues (2^nd country)

8.      Source list of at least 10 sources used for the country update

Your country update will be graded on the following criteria:

·         All questions and parts of questions are answered.

·         The information presented is clear, accurate and relates to the questions.

·         The content are appropriately thoughtful for a college-level class.

·         The graphs and any other visuals are clear, fully labeled, and visually appealing

Project Calendar – all assignments due by 11:59pm on Canvas

7/1     Country Preferences for Country Update #1 (5 pts)

7/15    Outline for Country Update 1 (10 pts)

7/22     Country Update 1 (50 pts)

7/26     Country Update 1 reviews (30 pts)

7/26     Country Preferences for Country Update #2 (5 pts)

8/5       Outline for Country Update 2 (10 points)

8/12     Country Update 2 (50 pts)

8/12     Self-evaluation (15 pts)

Outline Format: (10 pts each)

·         Outlines need to be numbered as indicated in the list of required components.

·         They should present, in bullet form, the main points for each of components 1-6.

·         Outlines should end with a list of at least 4 sources with an indication of which components (1-6) are drawn from each source.

Peer Review Format: (Label responses with letters as indicated below – 15 pts each)

1.       Country being reviewed and author of country update

2.      What were the two strongest aspects of the content of this country update?

3.       What were the two strongest aspects of the visuals submitted as part of this country update?

4.      What are two suggestions you have for how this country update could be improved? (Focus on the grading criteria as listed above.)

Self-evaluation Format: (Label responses with letters as indicated below – 15 pts)

1.       What was your Country 1and what was your Country 2?

2.      What option did you choose for Country 1 and what option did you choose for Country 2?

3.       How would you grade yourself on the research and synthesis part of this assignment for each of your two Country Updates? Why?

4.      How would you grade yourself on the presentation of your research in your chosen format for each of your two Country Updates? Why?

5.      What did you learn from doing the reviews of other students’ Country Updates?

6.      How could the review process be improved so that it is more useful?

7.       What was most useful to you as you prepared the visuals for your country updates? What advice would you have for students working on this project in the future? If you did a narrated slide show or a video, what technology and apps did you use? Would you recommend them? Why?