Analysis report of Australian economy

Assignment 2

Due:                         25 September, 2020

Length:                    1500 words – (up to 2000 words is permissible)

Requirement:

For Assignment 2 you are required to prepare a report on the current (i.e., August/September 2020) state of the Australian economy and compare its performance with the state of the economy over the period from 2015 to 2020. In completing your report it will be necessary to examine the latest available figures and the comparable figures commencing in 2015 to develop an annualised (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) trend analysis. You should provide a table or graph of these trends. A discussion of the possible causes of the trends you develop is expected.

The following four economic indicators - economic growth (GDP), unemployment, inflation and trade are to be examined in your report. Trade generally includes the terms of trade, the current account, net foreign debt and the value of the Australian dollar however for your report you will just be focussing on the current account for the trade category. In examining the performance of the Australian economy it will also be useful to outline any expected target values that may exist for the economic indicators.

Finally, given your analysis, you are asked to highlight three major issues facing the Australian economy over the next 12 months and why these are of concern and how they may affect the four indicators above.

Presentation of report

The report should be between 1500 and 2000 words. This word limit does not include the abstract, tables, graphs and reference list.

The report should be word processed using Times New Roman font size 12 with 1.5 line spacing.

Structure of report

Your report must include:

• an appropriate title
• an abstract summarising the report
• an introduction in which you briefly explain what you are going to address in the report and why
• the body of the essay broken into sections with appropriate section headings
• a brief conclusion that should summarise your analysis
• appropriate in-text referencing and a reference list at the end of the report.

Although the requirements for presentation and structure may appear pedantic, they are not. In the business world you may often find yourself involved in writing a report – perhaps even for multilateral and government organisations such as the IMF or OECD. We suggest that you devote some time to developing this skill. Your future career can only be enhanced by your ability to communicate effectively in writing.

Marking criteria Assignment 2

Your report will be marked against the following criteria:

• Abstract (2 marks)
• Introduction (1 mark)
• The body of the report providing:
  • An appropriate description and discussion of the current state of the Australian economy as reflected by the four economic indicators - economic growth, unemployment, inflation and the current account in Australia and the economy in 2020. You also need to comment on the trends in these indicators since 2015.(8 marks)
  • A succinct description of three major issues facing the Australian economy over the next 12 months and the possible affects they may have on the four indicators. (6 marks)
• Conclusion (1 mark)
• Evidence in the report of a depth of research (3 marks)
• Accuracy in referencing (Harvard Style) (1 mark)
• Presentation, grammar, structure, etc. (3 marks)

TOTAL FOR ASSIGNMENT 2:      25 marks (weighting 25% of total marks for the unit)

Some advice about Assignment 2

Your short “Abstract” needs to describe the aim of the report and provide a brief overview of the economic targets the indicator trends as well as the issues facing the economy. It could be approximately 500 words. The Abstract is worth 2 marks

The "Introduction" is a brief paragraph or two that outlines the aim of the report (i.e., what you are examining) and how the report is structured. The content of your assignment should generally reflect the marking criteria. REMEMBER that an Introduction is different to an Abstract. The Introduction is worth 1 mark.

The "body" of the report is the content of your research and analysis. You may want to consider dividing you report into different sections with appropriate subheadings.

You should begin the body of your report with a discussion and comparison of the trend values you have developed for the four economic indicators under investigation (Economic Growth (GDP), Unemployment, Inflation and the Current Account) in Australia from 2015 to 2020. You should also discuss the government’s targets for these indicators wherever possible. Ensure that you are clear on what you are presenting with regard to the indicators- e.g., do your indicators show GDP, growth in GDP over time or GDP per capita growth? This section is worth 8 marks

Once you have discussed the variables you need to provide your (well thought out) opinions about three major issues facing the Australian economy over the next 12 months and how they may affect the indicator trends. You need to support your opinions with reputable research. This section is worth 6 marks.

In your "Conclusion" you need to discuss briefly the Australian economy in 2015 comparative to 2020 and what you see as the major issues facing the economy. This section is worth 1 mark.

You are expected to have used a reasonable number of references to enable you to prepare this report. This section is worth 3 marks.

You also need to ensure that you have consistently used correct Harvard referencing throughout the report and that you have correctly formatted your Reference List at the end of the report. Consistent and correct referencing includes correctly referencing all charts and statistics used in compiling your report. Only include the references that you actually used in your report.  This section is worth 1 mark.

Finally but importantly pay careful attention to the structure of your report as well as presentation and grammar. This aspect of your report is worth 3 marks.

There are a number of useful resources you can use to gather information but make sure you are using reliable sources and that all sources are fully and correctly referenced. Useful sources of information might include the following web sites:

• Australian Bureau of Statistics http://www.abs.gov.au
• The Reserve Bank of Australia http://www.rba.gov.au
• Australian Government Treasury http://www.treasury.gov.au
• Department of Finance http://www.finance.gov.au
• Productivity Commission http://www.pc.gov.au
• World Trade Organization http://www.wto.org
• OECD http://www.oecd.org
• ABC News http://www.abc.net.au/news/
• Trading Economics http://tradingeconomics.com

Some online newspaper sites may also be useful. For example, the Australian Financial Review, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian, the Guardian and other major online newspapers. The editions around the time of economic policy announcements are especially useful.

You will also need to look closely at some recent budgets that are usually brought down in May (details can be found at http://www.budget.gov.au) and monetary policy announcements about interest rates can be found at http://www.rba.gov.au. The RBA's quarterly statement on monetary policy is also a very useful source of information on the economy and its status. If you find some good sources I suggest that you share them with other students on the Unit’s Discussion Board.