RMIT Classification: Trusted

ECON 1192 GROUP ASSIGNMENT - MACROECONOMIC DATA ANALYSIS

(Word limit: 3300 words maximum. Deduction of 1 mark for every 100 words excess.)

Submission deadline: Friday, Dec 10th, 23:59 (GMT+7)

Only Turnitin submissions are accepted

Note: It is the group’s responsibility to ensure that each member contributes in completing this
assessment. Anyone who does not cooperate may receive relevant penalty/ies. Attach the
contribution form to your submitted paper.

Further details:

a. You will now work together as a team, depending on the class size, groups may have 4-5
students per group. Please coordinate group formations with your respective lecturers.

Here is a helpful module for you to be able to engage more efficiently in group work:

WORKING IN GROUPS - Overview | Rise 360 (articulate.com)

b. Please note that the use of Wikipedia, Investopedia and essay writing websites as references
will be penalized with a deduction of 5 marks from your total mark.
c. Deductions for exceeding word limit is pro-rated (eg 50 words excess = 0.5 mark deduction)

You will be assigned by your lecturer to work on a combination of countries under developed
country category (with GDP/capita of >US$12.000) and developing country category (with
GDP/capita of <US$12.000). The groups for the analysis are as follow:

A. North America - Middle East and Central Asia

B. South America - Northern Africa
C. Central America & Caribbean - East Asia
D. Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe
E. South Asia - Australia & Oceania

The number of your group members will determine how many countries you will analyse:

4 members=4 unique countries: 2 developed, 2 developing

5 members=5 unique countries: 2-3 or 3-2 for developed and developing countries

Question 1 - Economic Growth (10 marks)

a. Discuss the relationship between education and economic development in general and in the
special context of your chosen countries. Support your arguments from examples of your chosen
countries. Compare and contrast the similiarites and/or differences among them.

Page 1 of 3
 RMIT Classification: Trusted

b. Discuss the possible implication of the Covid-19 pandemic on the following factors of production:
physical capital, human capital and technology, and thus on the potential long run economic growth.
Support your arguments with specific data and examples from your countries. Will the impact be
different between developed and developing countries? Explain.

5 + 5 = 10 marks

Question 2 – Savings and Investment (10 marks)

a. Read the following articles on effects of the pandemic on savings in Europe and UK:

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/economic-
bulletin/focus/2021/html/ecb.ebbox202105_04~d8787003f8.en.html

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/bank-overground/2020/how-has-covid-affected-household-savings

Illustrate the effect of the pandemic on savings with diagram of market of loanable fund. Clearly
show shifts of the curves if any and the new equilibrium.

b. According to the article, what is effect on the pandemic on consumption? Discuss whether
the higher saving is good or bad for the economy at this moment and in the long run.
c. Pick 1 developing country out of your group. Does this country also experience similar or
different changes in savings during the pandemic like what is mentioned in part a and b?
Discuss the impacts and illustrate with a loanable fund market diagram.

3 + 3 + 4 =10 marks

Question 3 - Unemployment (10 marks)

References (these are just suggesting you some beginning ideas, for analysis on your specific
countries, you need to read further sources):

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/vision/vision-covid-19-mass-unemployment-and-structural-change

https://voxeu.org/article/beyond-pandemic-life-support-structural-change

https://unctad.org/news/gender-and-unemployment-lessons-covid-19-pandemic

https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/what-have-countries-done-to-support-young-
people-in-the-covid-19-crisis-ac9f056c/

a. How does the pandemic affect the labour force participation rate and unemployment rate in
your assigned countries during the last two years? Where possible, find detailed data on
unemployment rate among different age groups, male and female, and different ethnic
groups for if any.
b. In each country, which group suffered the most during the pandemic, based on your
collected data? Explain. Recommend some policies to reduce the unemployment rate for
this group.

Page 2 of 3
 RMIT Classification: Trusted

c. What are the potential impacts of the pandemic on unemployment in the future? Make sure
to relate your answer to types of unemployment rate (frictional, structural, cyclical, classical)
in your answer.

3 + 4 +3 =10 marks

Question 4 – The short run economic fluctuation (10 marks)

Please read the Economist article “The World Economy’s Shortage Problem” from the following
RMIT Library link:

https://www.proquest.com/docview/2580351382/fulltextPDF/503FBBDB21124FA4PQ/2?accountid
=13552

a. Identify different forces that lead to the shortage economy in the article. Explain the se
effects on SRAS and AD curves. Draw AS AD diagram to illustrate these effects.
b. Choose 1 developed and 1 developing country in your assigned country group. Discuss if
these 2 economies suffer from the shortage issue as described in the article? You need to
show data on 4 components of AD (C, I, G, NX) over the last 5 years, and changes in factor of
production for SRAS in these two countries. Also, include the most recent data on economic
growth and unemployment rate in 2020 and 2021. You are expected to find more further
readings related to the shortage problem in the specific context of the country.

4 + 6 = 10 marks

Page 3 of 3