Micro 1

ECO202 – Microeconomics

Unit 1 Assignment: Productivity

Due: Sunday by 11:59 pm at the end of Unit 1.

Productivity

Productivity in the United States has changed drastically in the last thirty years. There is a

debate among economists as to the causes of the changes in productivity as well as the

relationship with other economic variables.

Key questions:

How is productivity measured?

What has been the annual average productivity in the U.S. for the last 30 years?

What are the issues associated with changes in productivity?

How can the government affect productivity?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects the data and calculates various measures of

productivity. You can find more information at: http://www.bls.gov/bls/productivity.htm

Additional data can be found at: http://www.bls.gov/lpc/faqs.htm

The following two articles from the Federal Reserve discuss productivity changes occurring

today.

"Is the United States Losing its Productivity Advantage?"

http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/current_issues/ci13-8.pdf

"The Sources of the Second Surge of U.S. Productivity and Implications for the Future,"

http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20060831a.htm

Your final product will be a paper that:

 Addresses each of the questions in total.

 Is APA fortatted.

 The body is to be 2 pages minimum.

The requirements for your assignment are:

1. Answer each question fully

2. Define the overall subject of each question.

3. Cite at least three (3) resources from this week’s materials.

Students: Be sure to read the criteria and review the grading rubric on the next page, by

which your paper/project will be evaluated, before you write, and again after you write.

Evaluation Rubric for Unit 1 Assignment

CRITERIA Deficient Proficient Exemplary Points

Earned

Overview of the

Topic 0-13 Points

Does not provide an

adequate overview

or is missing.

14-27 Points

Overview is

presented, though

may not be clear or

complete.

28-40 Points Overview is clearly

presented including

all criteria outlined

above.

Complete

Answers 0-11 Points Questions

unanswered and/or

poorly answered.

12-23 Points All questions

answered with 1-2

sentence inputs.

24-35 Points

All questions

answered with depth

and clarity.

References to

Course Materials 0-5 Points Less than 3

references, no

assimilation to the

questions.

6-10 Points 3 references,

minimal

assimilation to the

questions.

11-15 Points 4 or more references

and assimilations

show depth and

clarity.

APA Format 0-1 Point Format has errors

that impede

professional

presentation; and/or

APA not followed,

reference page

missing.

2-3 Points APA format and

reference page has

few errors that do

not impede

professional

presentation.

4-5 Points APA format and

reference page is

clear, professional,

and error free.

Writing Quality 0-1 Point More than 7 writing

errors, to include

spelling and

punctuation.

2-3 Points More than 4 writing

errors, to include

spelling and

punctuation.

4-5 Points No writing errors.

Total 100