Microeconomic Event in the US Economy

The term report is 16% of your course grade. The goal of the report is to give you an opportunity to apply the knowledge you have acquired in the class to a specific economic event that is of interest to you. The report should be at least 2-3 pages in length and should include several key components listed below. It should be written as an essay (no bullet points) in MS Word with 1” margins on all sides, 12 pt font, and 1.5 line spacing.

• Pick a macroeconomic event that is of interest to you. This could be a recent event or a historical event. It could be something related to the US economy or any foreign country or group of countries.
• The event must have been reported in an external source. You might have read an article online, a piece of news in a newspaper or on an online platform, in a magazine or academic journal, in a book or in a chapter; or you might have seen a video. You are required to attach the source to your report (it does not count towards your 2-3 page minimum for the length of the report) or provide a link (especially if it is a video or audio). I need to be able to see the original piece that inspired you. If you fail to attach the original piece or I am unable to open the link/file you sent me, you will lose points.
• The selected event must be macroeconomic in nature. We discussed economic growth, inflation, unemployment, labor/capital markets, aggregate supply/demand, inflation, fiscal/monetary policies. The event has to be related to at least one of these topics.
• You need to use a model we discussed in class to explain/analyze the event. For this purpose you need to select an appropriate model that fits your event and draw a graph of the model that shows the initial situation and the changes caused by the event. You can draw the graph by hand and take a photo that you include as an image in your report.
• I need to see that you are able to link the model we discussed and the event you chose in a meaningful way. The model is your tool that you should use to explain what is going on. Sometimes, models fail to explain economic events. For instance, the model indicates that if this happens, inflation will occur.

However, instead prices remain relatively stable. In such cases, you should clearly explain what the model predicts and try to find reasons why this did not occur in reality. Hopefully, the article will help in that regard.

• Avoid choosing several events occurring at the same time as this might make things more complex and difficult to explain.
• Structure the report as follows. Begin by summarizing the event you are writing on. Next, explain which macroeconomic model might be the most appropriate for this situation and why. Then refer to your graph and explain the initial situation and the subsequent shift/change due to the event. This part should be the core of your report. Make sure to dedicate at least a page to this analysis. Finally, explain the consequences of the event and conclude by summarizing your analysis and providing some lessons for the future.