Sydney Morning Herald presented the views of some economists regarding the performance of the Australian economy in 2017 (see http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/economists-deeply-divided-over-australias-economic-path-in-2017-20170207-gu72ev.html). For Assignment 2 you are required to firstly read this article and to then prepare a report on the current (i.e., August/September 2018) state of the Australian economy and compare its performance with state of the economy in August 2017. In completing your report it will be necessary to examine the latest figures and the August 2017 figures for the following four economic indicators – economic growth (GDP), unemployment, inflation and trade (including the terms of trade, the current account, net foreign debt and the value of the Australian dollar). In examining the performance of the Australian economy it will 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 you believe are facing the Australian economy over the next 12 months and why you perceive these as of concern.
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 (sometimes called an executive summary) 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 trade in Australia and the economy in 2018. You also need to compare the current situation with that in August 2017(8 marks)
- A succinct description of three major issues facing the Australian economy over the next 12 months. (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)
