a) What is the purpose of this chapter? What are some of the topics that the chapter will discuss?
b) Brief paragraph on why we care about growth in East Asia.
c) Create a table that shows the GDP and GDP per capita for your country measured in local currency units, in dollars using market exchange rates and using PPP for the years 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2016 (or 2017). (Use the data from the World Development Indicators database Go to the World Development Indicators database (http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=world-development-indicators) and download the following variables for Thailand for 2016: “Official exchange rate”, “PPP conversion factor, GDP” (do not confuse this with the “2005 PPP conversion factor, GDP” for which no data is reported), “GDP, current LCU”, “GDP per capita (current LCU).
d) Explain the difference in the numbers when you use market exchange rates and PPP. What causes the difference and which of the two numbers reflects more accurately the GDP and GDP per capita and how is the ranking affected.
e) Insert a table that lists the GDP, GDP per capita, and annual growth rate for the US, Japan, and your country for the years 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2014. Use the data from Q2 on Homework #2. Interpret the numbers in the table in a comparative perspective. How large was the economy of your country in 1960 compared to the US and Japan? What happened over the following decades? Do the same for growth and GDP per capita.
f) Insert the graph from Q2 part b) on Homework #2. Explain what convergence means and why it is important. Then test whether there was any convergence between your country, US and Japan over the period 1960-2014. Explain changes in trends and patterns of your country’s GDP per capita relative to that of US and Japan over the period. You can use your answer to Q2 part e), but the answer here should be longer and more detailed.
g) Insert the graph from Q1 part d) on Homework #2. Try to detect any trends and patterns in the growth rate over the entire period. Also, try to explain ups and downs in the growth rate in certain periods by mentioning relevant events or policies.
h) In the conclusion, make a forecast about the future change/convergence of your country with respect to Japan and the US based on your analysis in the chapter.