Trade Paper Economic Analysis.
Objective:
Create a 1 to 2-page handout/paper, or a brief video presentation that summarizes the trade relationship between the U.S. (or your home country) and another nation. Your final product should be typed, easy to understand, with self-explanatory sections that identify and explain the requested information. How you format and present the info though is up to you, however citation is needed when necessary. The writing should reflect your ability:
· To demonstrate knowledge of major concepts, findings, and historical perspectives in each of the following disciplinary areas including scarcity, decision making, allocation, trade, specialization, markets and prices, role of prices, competition and market structure.
· To be able to find information resources about the economy and evaluate their reliability
· To be able to communicate basic macroeconomic analysis effectively to a lay audience.
Paper instructions:
Chose a trading partner with the U.S. (you may use your home country if not a U.S. citizen.) You need to present the following information in an easy to follow and understand manner. You can do this by writing traditional paragraph style paper, or you can create a pamphlet/flyer type layout with headings and bullet points. Any way you chose to present the information I should be able to easily identify the following:
1. You should Identify the top 5 goods and services traded with this country. This includes the top 5 goods/services exported to them, as well as the top 10 goods/services imported from them.
2. The percentages that at least 2 or the imported goods make up of total imports for that good as well as total domestic consumption. (This country is 45% or all our oil imports and makes up 5% or all our oil use …) If you can not get exact information to give % then indicate if it makes up a major or minor share of imports/exports and a major or minor share of total consumption. If you can’t find exact figures, simply indicate if it is a major source or minor source.
3. You need to Identify the exchange rate between currencies from at least 2 time periods at least 3 months apart (your welcome to identify more if you chose to graph this information.) One of your exchange rates should be within the last month, the other at least 3 months prior. You should also comment on whether this data demonstrates a strengthening or weakening of the currencies, and how that should affect the cost of the goods traded.
4. You should Identify any restrictions on trade with this country. The U.S. has levels of trading partners (most favored nation status is an example.) Identify any tariffs, quotas, treaties etc. you can identify that are currently in place (you don’t need to include any historical information that is no longer in effect).
5. Identify if there has been any change in the trade relationship in the last year. (removal or addition of tariffs, trade agreements … that sort of thing)
6. Current economic status of the trade partner including GDP, unemployment, and inflation rates.
7. Indicate if there is a trade deficit or surplus, and for how long that status has existed.
8. Indicate if this country is a major or minor trading partner (#1 trading partner, Top 20 …)
9. You should include at least 1 graph that helps explain one of these items.
10. Lastly you should include a brief summation of whether trade is growing or shrinking with this nation, and whether you expect this trend to continue or reverse. (your opinion can’t be wrong, what I am looking for though is how you support that opinion. If you say things are going well but I think it will get worse … just because… then you would lose points. However, if you can justify your opinion with at least some of the data you’ve collected, you’re fine.)
11. You do need to cite your sources in some manner.
12. The finished product should reflect college level effort including grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and overall effect.
Your grade for this paper will be based on your ability to address the criteria listed above.
Hopefully this is an unnecessary reminder; the University’s policies regarding plagiarism, cheating, or other dishonest conduct will be enforced.