Economics

KHayes

Homework 

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DiscussionWK2Economics.docx

This discussion will help prepare you for Assignments 1 and 2. For these assignments, you will choose a target country from the list provided in the instructions, as well as a product or service to analyze.

To get started, read and reply to each of the prompts below:

· Read the instructions for  Assignment 1  and choose your overseas country from the list provided

· State the target overseas country you have chosen and explain why this country interests you

· Briefly describe the product or service provided by your organization (or an organization that is of interest) that you will analyze in this course

· Using any of the nine indicators in the G, U or I sections of the GUIDES Worksheet, select two indicators and explain how these relate to your chosen target country's economic health

Assignment1Economics.docx

Assignment 1: GUIDES Worksheet

Due: Monday, 9:00 am (eastern), Week 4 (Weight: 10%)

Overview

In Assignment 1, you will learn how to collect economic data, using Economic Indicators that are readily available to consumers online. Economic Indicators are key statistics or metrics used to study the status of the overall economy, industry segments, and specific companies.

To help you learn how Economic Indicators work, JWMI has created a Worksheet, called GUIDES, which will take you step by step through the process of collecting the data needed for Assignment 1.

You will use the Worksheet provided to research key economic information about TWO countries: a target country that you select and your home country. The target country is a potential overseas location for your current company (or a company of interest).

In order to achieve this expansion, you will select ONE of the following strategies:

· Entering into a new market in the target country; or

· Increasing the size of an existing division located in the target country; or

· Adding a new product or service to an existing division located in the target country.

For most students, your home country is the United States, but for international students, it is your country of residence. Exceptions are possible if you have a unique situation – contact your Professor.

Use your current company and its industry for context. If your company is not currently operating globally, imagine that it is considering entry into one of the markets below. It is your task to assess the economic conditions in relation to your company’s unique profile and needs, so as to assess whether expansion into the potential overseas market makes sense for your business.

Choose ONE of the following countries as the target country for this assignment: 

Bahrain

Japan

Brazil

Mexico

Chile

Russia

Ethiopia

South Africa

Germany

South Korea

Hungary

Thailand

India

Turkey

Ireland

United Kingdom

Instructions

Download and save your GUIDES  Worksheet  in Week 1. Complete the entries in the six required sections of the GUIDES Worksheet during Weeks 2 and 3. As an optional exercise, feel free to add economic indicators that are relevant to your industry.

All the required data can be found on the  Trading Economics and/or the other websites below:

· Access the Trading Economics website at:  http://www.tradingeconomics.com

· Access the World Factbook website at:  https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/

· Access the Federal Reserve (FRED) website at:  https://fred.stlouisfed.org/

TIP: To locate Economic Indicators not found on the  Trading Economics website main landing page, click the INDICATORS drop-down menu at the top of the page, to see the full list of available Indicators.

We recommend you divide up your work over the first 3 weeks of the course, as indicated below: 

WEEK 1: Download and save your Worksheet

· Download and save your GUIDES  Worksheet  as an MS Word document

· Use this format for your filename:  LastName_FirstName_JWI515_GUIDES_Worksheet.docx e.g.  Doe_John_JWI515_ GUIDES_Worksheet.docx

WEEK 2: Complete the following sections of the Worksheet

· Section G (GDP & Growth)

· Section U (Unemployment & Utilization)

· Section I (Inflation & Interest rates)

WEEK 3: Complete the following sections of the Worksheet

· Section D (Debt & Deficits)

· Section E (External balances & Exchange rates)

· Section S (Savings & Investment)

Submission Requirements

· Use the GUIDES Worksheet provided in this course

· Save the Worksheet as an MS Word document using the format:   LastName_FirstName_JWI515_GUIDES_Worksheet.docx

· All six sections of the Worksheet must be completed – G, U, I, D, E, and S

· Collect the required data from one or more of these websites: Trading Economics, World Factbook, and FRED (Federal Reserve)

· Submit your completed GUIDES Worksheet as an MS Word document in Week 3

Strayer.pdf

JWI 515: Managerial Economics GUIDES Worksheet

The Components of

GUIDES G: GDP & Growth

U: Unemployment & Utilization

I: Inflation & Interest Rates

D: Debt & Deficits

E: External Balances & Exchange Rates

S: Savings & Investment

The purpose of the GUIDES Indicators Worksheet is to help the business leader collect macroeconomic data with confidence and accuracy.

NOTE: This worksheet is an adaptation of a macroeconomic analysis framework presented in: Weinzierl, Matthew, Shlefer, Jonathan, and Cullen, Ann. “GUIDES: Insight through indicators.” Harvard Business School 9-710-044. December 19, 2011 (2011): 1-9

Instructions You will use this Worksheet to collect your data in the form of Economic Indicators for two Countries. There are six sections that you need to complete: G, U, I, D, E, and S. When they are all complete, you will be ready to submit the Worksheet document as Assignment 1.

I. Follow these steps to save your GUIDES Worksheet document:

Note: The GUIDES Worksheet is a standard Word document

• To save the worksheet on your computer for use in Assignment 1, complete the following steps:

o Go to File > Save As o Choose your Destination (a folder on your computer) o Name your document as shown below and then click Save

• Use the following format for your filename: LastName_FirstName_JWI515_GUIDES_Worksheet.docx

o e.g. Doe_John_JWI515_ GUIDES_ Worksheet.docx

II. Follow these steps to collect your data:

• Enter your two Country names at the top of each page

• Use the Trading Economics website (http://www.tradingeconomics.com) website as your primary source to find your data. You can also use these sites for indicators not reported on the Trading Economics site:

o FRED (https://fred.stlouisfed.org/) o World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/)

• Enter your data and notes in the Worksheet by clicking into the cells with the Latest Entry, Trend, and Healthy Trend labels

• In the Healthy Trend Y/N Why? column, you may delete the Yes/No choice that is not correct, or you may highlight the correct one.

• Submit your GUIDES Worksheet document as Assignment 1 by the end of Week 3

Sample Data – Use examples below as a model on how to complete your GUIDES Worksheet.

Indicator Meaning Country: United States Country: Mock Country Data

Latest Entry

& Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Latest Entry & Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Consume r Spending

Private consumption, or an exchange of money for goods and services. Includes private purchases of durable goods, nondurables, and services.

$11922bil Oct2017 Quarterly

Steady rise since 2010. $11853bil in Jul2017. $11758bil in Apr2017

Yes – a rise in spending indicates a growing economy

$91795mil Jul2017 Quarterly

Steady rise since 2008. 91584mil in Apr2017. 91475mil in Jan2017

Yes – a rise in spending indicates a growing economy

Food Inflation

Change in the cost of food over the same month in the prior year.

1.20% Oct2017 Monthly

Steady rise since <0.4%> in Oct2016. 0% in Feb2017. 0.9% in June2017

Yes – when an economy is not running at capacity, inflation increases production

5.70% Oct2017 Monthly

Relatively flat. +/- 0.25% for past year

No – assumes production at capacity and demand will start to fall off

Wage Growth

Change in wage and salary disbursements from service, government, & manufacturing industries over the same month in the prior year.

3.22% Sep2017 Monthly

Steady rise. 2.75% in Aug2017 2.49% in Jul2017

Yes – company can charge more for goods and pay higher wages

0.7% Jan2017 Monthly

Holding flat 0.6% in Oct2016 0.6% in Jul2016

Not clear

Sales Tax

Tax charged to consumers based on the purchase price of certain goods and services.

0% Yearly

Flat, no change. No national sales tax in the US.

No- Gov’t taxes only personal & corporate incomes.

17% Yearly

Same since 2004 1989-2003= 15% France/UK = 20% Italy = 22% Sweden = 25%

Yes. On par with other advanced economies.

G = GDP & Growth Click here to access the Trading Economics website

Indicator Meaning Country: Country:

Latest Entry & Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Latest Entry & Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

GDP

Measures national income and output based on nominal prices. GDP is equal to the total expenditure for all final goods and services produced within the country

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

GDP Constant Prices

GDP adjusted for inflation. Measures the GDP value in base year dollars.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

GDP Annual Growth Rate

Percentage change in Real GDP. Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

GDP per capita

Percentage change in Real GDP divided by the total population.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Productivity Measures the output of goods and services per hour worked.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

U = Unemployment & Utilization Click here to access the Trading Economics website

Indicator Meaning Country: Country: Latest Entry &

Frequency Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Latest Entry & Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Unemploy- ment

The number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labor

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Rate % force. It is low during good economic times and high during recessions.

Labor Force Participatio n

Number of people who are either employed or are actively looking for work.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

�I = Inflation & Interest Rates Click here to access the Trading Economics website

Indicator Meaning Country: Country: Latest Entry &

Frequency Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Latest Entry & Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Interest Rate %

The price for holding money – time value of money or cost of money.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Inflation Rate %

Represents the percentage change in prices tied to a market basket of goods; transitionary price changes are excluded.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

� D = Debt & Deficits Click here to access the Trading Economics website

Indicator Meaning Country: Country: Latest Entry &

Frequency Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Latest Entry & Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Government Debt

Debt owed by a government. (also known as public interest, national debt and sovereign debt

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Personal Income Tax Tax Rate for Individuals

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Credit Rating

An estimate of the ability of an entity to fulfill its financial commitments.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Corporate Tax Rate

Tax rate for Corporations.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

E = External Balances & Exchange Rates Click here to access the Trading Economics website

Indicator Meaning Country: Country: Latest Entry &

Frequency Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Latest Entry & Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Imports

Amount of goods purchased by one country from another.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Exports

Amount of goods purchased by foreigners from a country.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

�S = Savings & Investment Click here to access the Trading Economics website

Indicator Meaning Country: Country: Latest Entry &

Frequency Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Latest Entry & Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Personal Savings

When a person rather than a company saves money to spend or invest later.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Consumer Confidenc e

Based on consumers’ perceptions of current business and employment conditions, as well as their expectations for six months hence regarding business conditions, employment, and income.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Business Confidenc e

Based on business’ perceptions of current business and employment conditions based on new and backlog of orders, imports, supplier delivery and inventories.

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Additional Indicators (optional) Click here to access the Trading Economics website

Use this optional page to capture data on Indicators that you believe are relevant to understanding your chosen country’s economy or relevant to your specific industry. Potential additional indicators include, but are not limited to:

• Business Confidence • External Debt • Living Wage Family

• Capacity Utilization Rate • Foreign Direct Investment • Personal Income Tax Rate

• Consumer Price Index • Government Spending • Productivity

• Disposable Personal Income • Housing Starts • Tourist Arrivals

Indicator Meaning Country: Country:

Latest Entry & Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Latest Entry & Frequency

Trend – with explanation

Healthy Trend (Y/N) & Why?

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

Yes / No Why?

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