You have just completed your seven-year term as the chief economic policy advisor for Econland (the nation you have been helping to manage). Now,

Competencies

In this project, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competencies:

• Make decisions informed by macroeconomic principles and the business cycle
• Determine the economic impact of historical and current events using models of macroeconomics
• Assess how changes to macroeconomic policies impact the economy

Scenario

You have just completed your seven-year term as the chief economic policy advisor for Econland (the nation you have been helping to manage). Now, you are expected to write a report for the new administration. In this report, you will summarize your macroeconomic policy decisions and explain the economic outcomes for Econland. The purpose of this report is to share the lessons you’ve learned over your term and promote sound macroeconomic decision making moving forward.

First, assemble the materials that you will need to complete this assignment:

1. Access the Macroeconomics Simulation: Econland from Harvard Business Publishing and select either the Rollercoaster or Stagnation scenario. Once you have completed the final year of your seven-year term, view the final reports under the Dashboard and Reports tabs at the top of the webpage. You will use these charts, graphs, and other visualizations from your report in the indicated areas of the template (for example, Table 1). Contact your instructor if you have any questions about accessing these resources.
2. Review and use the Project Template document located in the What to Submit section.
   • Your report's cover page, Table of Contents, and "Introduction" section should remain standard in all submissions except where indicated in the template. Read the brief "Introduction" section, which describes the purpose and structure of the deliverable, and add the high-level descriptions where prompted.
   • There are placeholders in the template for your data visualizations (for example, charts, graphs, and tables). They provide a rough approximation of where the visualizations should be placed. Replace these placeholders with the appropriate images in each case. To create an isolated image from the simulation data, use a snipping tool or other image-editing software to copy and paste your data visualizations into the template. See the tutorials in the Supporting Materials section for more information.
   • Reference any source material in your report with appropriate citations. A references page has been added to the project template with the citation for the textbook. Any additional references should also be cited according to APA format.

Directions

Once you have assembled the required materials listed above, draft your economic summary report by completing the following steps:

1. The first section of your report is the introduction. Add information related to your term as the chief economic policy advisor for the nation of Econland. Follow the instructions in the template, including adding Table 3 from your simulation report to the indicated area of the template (Table 1). Then, add a two- to three-sentence summary of your scenario and your overall performance and approval rating.
2. Taxation Policies: In the "Fiscal Policies: Taxation" section of your report, discuss the taxation policies of Econland for the public and your successor. Add an image of Table 1 from your simulation report to the indicated area of the template (Table 2). Then, address the following in the paragraphs below the table:
   1. Explain your intent for your taxation policy decisions over your seven-year term. What were the macroeconomic principles or models that influenced your decision making?
   2. Identify the impact of your changes to the income and corporate tax rates. How were consumption and investment affected by your tax-policy decisions? Explain these dynamics using specific macroeconomic principles from the course reading.
   3. Compare and contrast the impact of your tax policy decisions with those of current or historical examples in the United States. What do these examples demonstrate about the validity of macroeconomic models? Be sure to cite your research appropriately. (See the Supporting Materials section for assistance with APA style.)
3. Government Spending: In your report's "Fiscal Policies: Government Expenditure" section, discuss Econland's government spending policies for the public and your successor. Add an image of the “Real GDP Growth” and “Unemployment Rate” graphs from your simulation results and use an aggregate demand and aggregate supply (AD/AS) model to the indicated area of the template (Figures 1 and 2). Images of the AD/AS model can be found in the course textbook or any reputable online source. Then, address the following in the paragraphs below the figures:
   1. Explain your decision making regarding government expenditure and how it changed based on the macroeconomic conditions. What was the intent of your fiscal policy decisions in response to the given economic climate?
   2. Evaluate your fiscal policy decisions, including how they impacted key macroeconomic factors such as real GDP growth and unemployment. To what extent did your policies yield positive or negative outcomes?
   3. Refer to the AD/AS model to support your analysis in this section of your report.
4. Monetary Policies: In the "Monetary Policies" section of your report, discuss the monetary policies of Econland for the public and your successor. Add an image of the “Inflation Rate” graph from your simulation report to the indicated area of the template (Figure 3). Then, address the following in the paragraphs below the figure:
   1. Explain how you changed the interest rate levels and how these changes impacted other macroeconomic factors such as inflation, consumption, investments, GDP, and foreign trade. Provide specific examples to help illustrate.
   2. Compare and contrast the impact of your monetary policies with those of current or historical examples in the United States. What do these examples demonstrate about the validity of macroeconomic models? Be sure to cite your research appropriately. (See the Supporting Materials section for assistance with APA style.)
5. Global Context: In the "Global Context: section of your report, expand your discussion to consider the wider global context. Analyze the impacts of openness to trade in general. Why and how are the impacts of monetary and fiscal policies different in a closed economy versus an open economy? Support your claims with specific details from the course reading.
6. Conclusions: In the "Conclusions" section of your report, draw your overall conclusions about the relevance and significance of macroeconomics for the public and your successor.
   1. Assess the effectiveness of your economic policy decisions. Did your economic policy decisions produce the anticipated results? Did your macroeconomic principles and models behave how you expected? Provide specific examples to illustrate.
   2. Evaluate how consumer confidence might have impacted the outcomes of your policy decisions for the economy of Econland. Why is consumer confidence a relevant factor for making informed macroeconomic decisions?
7. Cite your sources according to APA format.

What to Submit

To complete this project, you must submit the following:

Economic Summary Report: Project Template
Use this template to create and submit your economic summary report for grading. It should outline the key principles and takeaways of your Econland simulation for your successor. Sources should be cited according to APA style.

Supporting Materials

The following resources support your work on the project:

Video: How to Use Snipping Tool (Beginners Guide) (5:23)
PC users can use this tutorial to learn how to snip, copy, and paste your data visualizations into the project template.

A captioned version of this video is available: ECO-201: How to Use Snipping Tool Beginners Guide (CC).

Resource: Is There a Snipping Tool for Mac? Four Best Snipping Tools
Mac users can use this tutorial to help snip, copy, and paste your data visualizations into your project template.

Resource: APA Style: Basics
Use this resource to support your in-line citations and full references in the "References" section of your project template.

Resource: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Use this resource to support your research for the U.S. Comparisons portions of the "Fiscal Policy: Taxation" and "Monetary Policies" sections of your report.

Resource: Budget and Economic Data
Use this Congressional Budget Office resource to support your research for the U.S. Comparisons portions of the "Fiscal Policy: Taxation" and "Monetary Policies" sections of your report.

Project Rubric

CriteriaExemplary (100%)Proficient (85%)Needs Improvement (55%)Not Evident (0%)ValueTaxation Policies: DecisionsExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerExplains the intent of the taxation policy decisions, and provides specific macroeconomic principles or models that influenced the decision makingShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include providing specific macroeconomic principles or modelsDoes not attempt criterion8Taxation Policies: ImpactsExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerIdentifies the impact of changes to income and corporate tax rates, including the effects on consumption and investment, and provides specific macroeconomic principles to support claimsShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include providing specific macroeconomic principles to support claimsDoes not attempt criterion9Taxation Policies: U.S. ComparisonExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerCompares and contrasts the impact of Econland tax policies with current or historical examples in the United States, and includes discussion about the validity of the underlying macroeconomic modelsShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include drawing appropriate conclusions about the validity of the underlying macroeconomic modelsDoes not attempt criterion9Government Spending: DecisionsExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerExplains the decision-making process regarding Econland government expenditure and the intent of fiscal policy decisions based on the macroeconomic conditionsShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include discussing the intent of the fiscal policy decisionsDoes not attempt criterion8Government Spending: ImpactsExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerEvaluates fiscal policy decisions, and explains how the policies positively or negatively impacted key macroeconomic factors such as real GDP growth and unemploymentShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include discussing how the policies impacted key macroeconomic factors such as real GDP growth and unemploymentDoes not attempt criterion9Government Spending: AD/AS ModelExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerRefers to the AD/AS model to support analysis of fiscal policy decisionsShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissionsDoes not attempt criterion8Monetary Policies: ImpactsExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerExplains how changes in interest rate levels impacted other macroeconomic factors such as inflation, consumption, investments, GDP, and foreign trade, providing specific examples to help illustrateShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include citing specific examplesDoes not attempt criterion9Monetary Policies: U.S. ComparisonExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerCompares and contrasts the impact of Econland’s monetary policies with those of current or historical examples in the United States, and includes discussion about the validity of the underlying macroeconomic modelsShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include drawing appropriate conclusions about the validity of the underlying macroeconomic modelsDoes not attempt criterion9Global ContextExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerAnalyzes the different impact of monetary and fiscal policies in a closed economy versus an open economy, and supports claims with details from the course readingShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include supporting claims with details from the course readingDoes not attempt criterion9Conclusions: Principles and ModelExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerAssesses effectiveness of the economic policy decisions using specific examples to illustrate claimsShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include providing specific examples to illustrate claimsDoes not attempt criterion9Conclusions: Consumer ConfidenceExceeds proficiency in an exceptionally clear, insightful, or sophisticated mannerEvaluates how consumer confidence impacted the outcomes of Econland policy decisions, including why consumer confidence is a relevant factor for making informed macroeconomic decisionsShows progress toward proficiency, but with errors or omissions; areas for improvement may include explaining why consumer confidence is a relevant factor for making informed macroeconomic decisionsDoes not attempt criterion9Articulation of ResponseSubmission has no errors related to citations, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or organization and integrates all required tables and figures correctlySubmission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or organization preventing understanding of ideasSubmission has major errors related to citations, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or organization preventing understanding of ideasSubmission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or organization preventing understanding of ideas4Total:100%