Assignment Task
Introduction
Successful completion of this unit will provide students with a grounding in economic theory, and the ability to apply that theory in the analysis and critique of business decisions and government policy. The unit covers both microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, and analysis of a wide range of business issues and policy debates. Students will gain an appreciation of key sources of economic statistics and their interpretation to complement economic theory and their analyses of key economic issues.
Contemporary Microeconomic Analysis
Effective business leaders regularly contribute to public debates on key economic policy matters. To effectively engage in a debate you require some understanding of the topic being debated as well as an understanding of the tools and the language of economic analysis and reasoning. The aim of this report is to develop these skills by critically analysing an economic news article using microeconomic concepts covered in Week 3 lectures (Introduction to Economics, Demand and Supply, Elasticity, Economic Efficiency, Government Intervention, Market Failure and Market Reforms). You will be preparing a contemporary economic analysis of a business/economic news article on microeconomics. The article must be recent; i.e. it must be sourced from financial and business journals/newspapers/web article published after 1st of November 2023. You will find appropriate articles in the daily newspapers as well as in more dedicated economic/business journals such as The Economist magazine. Factiva, an electronic database system available through the Curtin Library link, allows you to search for newspaper articles on specific topics. Your contemporary microeconomic analysis on an article is comprised of a written paper of no more than words. In preparing your contemporary economic analysis, you should:
1. Provide a brief discussion of the article drawing attention to the key issues in the article. Do not provide a lengthy summary of the article.
2. Draw attention to the underlying theoretical concepts which are relevant to the article (even if, as is typically the case, the theory is not explicitly stated in it). For instance if you select an article on fuel prices, outline the theoretical concepts related to the issue such as demand, supply, pricing etc. You should also analyse related theory issues (i.e. how this theory relates to the wider body of theory). Draw your own diagrams/charts to make an analysis.
3. Draw attention to the related policy issues (e.g. what government policy is or should be) and debate around the issue.
4. Provide a critique if the article contains economic inconsistencies / ignores important economic policy problems or issues, or is inconsistent with economic theory. Relate this critique to the substance of the article, not to issues of written expression, layout etc.
5. The article should be properly referenced at the end of the paper and include a copy of or an elink to the article. Remember to use the Chicago referencing style.
As this is a formal submission your contemporary article analysis must conform to the conventional essay writing and presentation standards, including references.You are welcome to use charts and tables as visual aids, but if you do so, they should be integrated into your analysis. Students are required to submit the assessment online via Blackboard Turnitin.
Group Report on International Macroeconomic Case Study
Form a group of two or three students (depending on divisibility of student enrolment in class) for this group report. Effective business leaders regularly write overviews and position papers on key economic policy matters for their organisations and external stakeholders. To accomplish this they need to be able to communicate clearly their understanding of the topic and deploy the tools and the language of economic analysis and reasoning. The aim of this exercise is to help you develop these skills by preparing a report on a macroeconomic policy issue or problem of an economy/country, other than Australia, which will be used as a policy briefing paper by a senior decision-maker in government (e.g. a government minister or senior official) or business (e.g. the CEO of a board). Your report should be no more than words. In preparing your report, you should:
1. Provide a one-page executive summary at the beginning of your paper (not included in the word count).
2. Present a clear introduction specifying the policy issue/problem to be addressed in your report. This should demonstrate your understanding that a problem is a situation in which some available options are associated with potential disadvantages.
3. Assess the costs and benefits of different options available to address the policy problem using macroeconomic theory.
4. Conclude with recommendations for methods to address the policy issue/problem.
As this is a formal submission, you must conform to the conventional report writing and presentation standards, including references. You are welcome to use charts and tables as visual aids, but if you do so, they should be integrated into your report discussion. Students are required to submit the assessment online via Blackboard Turnitin.
Testing Your Knowledge
The final assessment will be delivered as a take-home open-book assessment. The assessment will be a composition of several cases and/or questions, which you may have seen in class. The assessment will be made available on Monday, 15 March 2024. Students will have SEVEN days to complete the assessment. The deadline to submit the assessment via Blackboard Turnitin
Assessment Moderation
Fair assessment through moderation
Moderation describes a quality assurance process to ensure that assessments are appropriate to the learning outcomes, and that students work is evaluated consistently by assessors. Minimum standards for the moderation of assessments are described in the Assessment and Student Progression Manual, available from policies
Pre-marking moderation
- l Peer review of the assessment design for constructive alignment;
- l Peer review of assessment task details (provided to students);
- l Peer review of examination questions for ambiguity, bias etc.;
- l Peer review of marking guide/rubric, or calibration of teaching and marking team for shared understanding of the assessment requirements and used to inform teaching within the study period.
Intra-marking / Post-marking moderation
- l Calibration of markers prior to marking assessments;
- l Calibration of markers on a small sample of assessments prior to marking the rest;
- l Achieving consensus on final mark where marking is done by two or more assessors;
- l Moderation of a sample of student work near grade boundaries;
- l Moderation of all borderline results to confirm standard;
- l Moderation of high and low outliers to confirm result;
- l Evaluating content and construct validity of assessment;
- l Teaching team review of marking and moderation processes to inform improvements.