ECON545 All Week Case Studies Latest 2019 January Question # 00597652 Course Code : ECON545 Subject: Economics Due on: 02/04/2019 Posted On: 02/04/2019 04:22 AM Tutorials: 0 Rating: 4.9/5

Week 1 Case
Study: Choices, Trade-Off, and Economic Systems

Overview

Every time we choose to do something (consume it or produce
it), we give up doing or gaining something else that could give us a certain
level of benefit or satisfaction. Choices exist because of our limited (scarce)
resources. Even if you were the richest person in the United States, you still
cannot do more than one thing at a time. For example, you cannot watch a movie
and sleep at the same time, and you cannot fish and bike at the same time.

When we make choices, we usually weigh several factors
against each other to narrow down our options. These factors could be tangible,
such as money, gifts, work, distance, personal ability, and so forth, and they
could also be intangible (or immaterial), such as feelings, comfort, sleep,
love, and so forth. We always go through a rational (or purposeful) thinking
process when we make choices, although not all choices are rational!

Assignment Description

We are going to examine how an entity made a decision and
the impact of that decision.

Select a company, a supplier, a producer, a not-for-profit
organization, a government agency, a community, or a social movement of your
choice to analyze the process, costs, benefits, and the outcome of a major
choice that the organization has made. A decision could be to expand production,
relocate, eliminate a product or service line, hire more people, layoff
workers, shutdown operation, change their marketing approach, target a new
market, or change the structure of the organization.

To start the selection process of your organization, select
an organization or a company and then perform a quick online search for a major
change in that company that impacted its labor force, market share, revenue,
and costs. Or you could select the organization you work for or belong to and
do similar search about them.

Your research needs to be structured with consistent and
clear thoughts. It also needs to be supported by facts and data. Your results
need to be based on solid facts. Your conclusion and opinion need to be
thorough and based on your findings and understanding of the concepts:
Trade-Off and Economic Systems.

Writing Style and Page Number Requirements

Font Type: Times New Roman or Arial

Font Size: 12

Spacing: Double

Number of Pages: Four to six pages, including a separate
Title page and a separate References page

Structure and Requirements

• Title
Page

o Title of
the paper

o Name of
the author

o E-mail
address of the author

o Class
name

o Professor’s
name

o Date

• Introduction

Identify your organization, its scope of business or service,
its size, its mission statement, its business or service strategy, its revenue,
and the trend of its growth and decline in recent years. Then talk about the
nature of the decision that organization has to make and the reason behind this
choice.

• Data

Obtain data from at least three credible sources (not
Wikipedia) to provide facts about the organization (its size, revenue,
capacity, etc.).

Use table, graphs, and figures (if available) to support
your argument.

• Analysis

Fully explain the organization’s purpose and the process of
making the decision. Basically, what made them make this choice? Then fully
explain the consequences and outcome of this decision (cost, benefits, risks,
losses, and gains). Make sure to use facts, numbers, figures, tables, and/or
graphs to show the impact of this choice on the organization (revenue, size,
costs, market share, etc.)

• Conclusion

Provide your own final thoughts, opinion, and understanding
of the outcome. Do you believe the choice that the organization made had
economic justification where the benefits outweighed the costs? Explain your
answer here. Also, state what else could have this organization done to improve
the outcome of their choice. Also, provide an alternative (better) choice they
could have made instead of the one they actually made.

• Reference
List

Use at least three professional sources to support your
argument. The references need to be in APA format. To learn more about APA
format, click on the link below.

APA Resource

Week 2 Case
Study: Supply and Demand

Overview

Market demand represents the sum of the individual demand
for a commodity (a good or a service) from buyers in the market. If there are
more buyers who are willing and able to pay for a commodity, then market demand
at each price level will rise. On the other hand, market supplyrepresents the
total quantity of a commodity that producers are willing and able to provide to
the buyers at a given price level. Market equilibrium occurs where the quantity
supplied equals the quantity demanded, and the market price (equilibrium price)
is set at that quantity (equilibrium quantity).

The equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity are not
static; however, meaning that they change due to changes in market demand or market
supply. A commodity that once was popular and its production was profitable,
for example, might lose popularity. As a result, its price declines and its
profitability declines, too. Whenever the demand for a commodity rises or
declines, and whenever the production of a commodity expands or shrinks, it is
certain that a market force or a set of forces have taken place to cause this
change. At the same time, whenever market demand and/or market supply change,
the market price and quantity of that commodity changes, too.

Dynamic and free markets are constantly changing due to
changes in factors (determinants) that affect either demand, supply, or both.
Analyzing and understanding the forces behind the shift in market demand and
market supply determines the growth pattern of the commodity.

Assignment Description

In this assignment, we are going to analyze the changes in
market demand and market supply for a commodity (a good or a service). In
addition, we are going to analyze how the changes in demand and supply affected
the market price and production of this commodity. To do so, we are going to
address the key factors (determinants) that have caused the shift in demand
and/or the shift in supply. The goal here is to provide an objective analysis
of the forces that have caused this change to better understand the behavior of
the market and to determine the potential growth or decline for this commodity.
Some of the commodities that have experienced a drastic change (an increase or
a decrease) in supply and/or demand in recent years are organic foods,
cage-free eggs, social media, higher education, online education, healthcare
services, online banking, online shopping, DVD players, digital cameras, fidget
spinners, health clubs, bottled water, landlines, Cash for Gold, and fried
food. You could use one of these commodities for your study or choose one you
are familiar with or prefer.

To start, select a commodity that you wish to analyze to
determine changes in its market demand, market supply, equilibrium quantity
(output), and equilibrium price.

Your research needs to be structured with consistent and
clear thoughts. It also needs to be supported by facts and data. Your results
need to be based on solid facts. Your conclusion and opinion need to be
thorough and based on your findings and understanding of supply and demand
determinants.

Writing Style and Page Number Requirements

Font Type: Times New Roman or Arial

Font Size: 12

Spacing: Double

Number of Pages: Four to six pages, including a separate
Title page and a separate References page

Structure and Requirements

• Title
Page

o Title of
the paper

o Name of
the author

o E-mail
address of the author

o Class
name

o Professor’s
name

o Date

• Introduction

Describe your commodity and the market that commodity
targets. Also, state when, how, and why it became popular or less popular. In
addition, state the factors (demand determinants and supply determinants) that
have caused its supply and demand to change and how those changes affected it
price. Basically, why has demand and supply for that commodity changed?

• Data

o Obtain
data from at least three credible sources (not Wikipedia) to provide facts
about the changes in demand and supply.

o Use tables,
graphs, and figures to support your argument. You could use figures that show
the changes in demand and supply, as well as changes in the market price for
the commodity.

• Analysis

Use the findings from your data section to fully explain the
growth or decline pattern of the supply and demand. Is the commodity growing or
is it declining, and why? If it is growing, state the factors that led to its
growth. If it is declining, state the factors that led to its decline.

• Conclusion

Provide your own final thoughts, opinion, and understanding
of the outcome. Do you believe this commodity is profitable for its producers?
Or should they provide something different instead? Or should they modify the
commodity? Moreover, if you were to produce this commodity, what would you do
to increase your revenue?

• Reference
List

Use at least three professional sources to support your
argument. The references need to be in APA format. To learn more about APA
format, click on the link below.

APA Resource

Week 3 Case
Study Market Structure, Market Power, and Profitability

Overview

A market refers to a group of buyers and sellers of a good
or a service and the institution or arrangement by which they come together to
trade. The interaction of supply and demand determines the quantities the
suppliers are willing and able to produce, as well as the market price.
According to the law of demand, people demand more (quantity demanded) when the
price declines. Alternatively, if the price increases, the quantity demanded
for the commodity decreases; however, the degree of change in quantity demanded
depends on the level of the elasticity of demand that commodity has. If a given
commodity is a necessity or if it has fewer or no substitutes, then a change in
the price will not affect demand significantly. For example, we don’t respond
the same way when the price of gasoline changes as we respond when the price of
soft drinks changes. Gasoline is a necessity commodity, but soft drinks have
many substitutes and are not a necessity.

Market structure is defined as the organizational and other
characteristics of a market that affect the nature of competition and pricing.
Suppliers in a monopoly market structure, such as natural gas suppliers for
example, have no competition and they can set the price of their commodity
however they want. For this reason, monopolies have high level of market power.
On the other hand, suppliers in perfect competition market structure, such as
corn growers, have many competitors and they sell identical commodities. As
such, they are price takers and have no control over market price.

The general rule is the higher the level of market power a
supplier has, the higher the level of control they have over prices and the
higher the level of profitability they can achieve.

Assignment Description

This assignment is intended to determine the efficiency and
profitability of different organizational arrangements. An organization could
be a small business (a restaurant, a hairdresser, a singer, an artist, a gift
shop, a street vender, etc.), a large private organization (a manufacturer, a
university, a hospital, a charity, a distributor, a transportation provider, a
bank, etc.), or a governmental agency (a public school, city services, a
correction facility, a tollway, a park district, a postal service, a public
transportation, etc.). You could choose to discuss the market structure in
which a specific organization is operating in, or you could choose to discuss
the advantages, disadvantages, and differences between larger structures such
as private versus public ownership, capitalism versus socialism, and corporate
ownership versus small private ownerships.

To start, select an organization (a private small business,
a corporation, a charity, or a government agency) that you wish to analyze for
this assignment.

Your research needs to be structured with consistent and
clear thoughts. It also needs to be supported by facts and data. Your results
need to be based on solid facts. Your conclusion and opinion need to be
thorough and based on your findings and understanding of the characteristics of
different market structures.

Writing Style and Page Number Requirements

Font Type: Times New Roman or Arial

Font Size: 12

Spacing: Double

Number of Pages: Four to six pages, including a separate
Title page and a separate References page

Structure and Requirements

• Title
Page

o Title of
the paper

o Name of
the author

o E-mail
address of the author

o Class
name

o Professor’s
name

o Date

•Introduction

Describe the organization that you wish to analyze. State
its commodity, business model, target market, specialization, product
differentiation, pricing strategy, and market share. In addition, describe the
market structure it operates in (monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition,
or perfect completion) and state the characteristics of this business that make
it fall into this market structure. Moreover, state the organization’s main
competitors and the strategies it uses to remain competitive in the market. In
addition, state that one characteristic that its commodity has that makes them
unique in their market.

• Data

o Obtain
data from at least three credible sources (not Wikipedia) to provide facts
about market share, pricing strategy, growth, revenue, and profit maximization
approaches.

o Use
tables, graphs, and figures to support your argument (if available).

• Analysis

Here, you need to determine whether the commodity this
organization provides is elastic or inelastic, and why. Then discuss the
advantages and disadvantages, as well as opportunities and threats, of
operating in this market. In addition, discuss the profit maximization
strategies this organization uses. Moreover, discuss the level of market power
this organization has in the market they operate in and the reasons they have
such market power. Do they have control over prices (price maker) or do they
have no control (price taker) and why?

• Conclusion

Provide your own final thoughts, opinions, and understanding
of the benefits of operating in this market structure. Also, state what else
this organization could do to gain more market power and to maximize their
profits.

• Reference
List

Use at least three professional sources to support your
argument. The references need to be in APA format. To learn more about APA
format, click on the link below.

APA Resource

Week 4 Case
Study Industry Growth and GDP Growth

Overview

GDP represents the total output and the total income in the
economy. The source of GDP is the production by various producers and
industries. As such, each industry has a share in GDP. This means that, if the
industry grows, then its share as a percentage of GDP grows as well. Moreover,
when GDP grows, income level in the economy increases. As a result, some
industries in the economy expand when GDP and the income level rise. For
example, industries that produce luxury commodities such as brand-name shoes,
vacation packages, organic food items, movie theaters, expensive coffee, and so
forth, grow and expand when household income rises. Other industries such as
dollar stores, thrift shops, fast food restaurants, generic brands, and public
transportation expand when the household income declines.

Assignment Description

For this assignment, you need to choose an industry and then
analyze the growth pattern of that industry during periods of recession and
periods of expansion. Examples of industries that you could choose from include
auto, airline, higher education, food, healthcare, agriculture, housing, social
media, fast food, sport, gaming, pharmaceutical, and movie industry, or
whatever other industry you prefer. Remember, you are analyzing the growth
pattern of the industry, not a specific commodity. The goal of this assignment
is to

1. analyze
the growth pattern of a specific industry;

2. identify
the sources of the growth; and

3. determine
the relationship between GDP growth and the growth of that industry.

Your research needs to be structured with consistent and
clear thoughts. It also needs to be supported by facts and data. Your results
need to be based on solid facts. Your conclusion and opinion need to be
thorough and based on your findings and understanding of GDP, the sources of
GDP growth, and the growth pattern and sources of your industry.

Writing Style and Page Number Requirements

Font Type: Times New Roman or Arial

Font Size: 12

Spacing: Double

Number of Pages: Four to six pages, including a separate
Title page and a separate References page

Structure and Requirements

• Title
Page

o Title of
the paper

o Name of
the author

o E-mail
address of the author

o Class
name

o Professor’s
name

o Date

• Introduction

Provide an overview of the industry, its size (market
share), its output level, its growth pattern, its employment share (how many
people does it employ), and key challenges and opportunities this industry
faces.

• Data

o Obtain
data from at least three credible sources (not Wikipedia) to provide facts
about the industry output over 10 years and the sources of the growth (changes
in regulations, changes in consumption, changes in investment, changes in
government purchases, or changes in net export).

o Obtain
data about changes in GDP growth rate for the same period (10 years).

o Use
tables, graphs, and figures to support your argument.

Analysis

Here, you need to discuss the sources of the growth pattern
and how and why these sources affect the growth or decline of the industry. In
addition, discuss the relationship between GDP growth rate and the growth rate
of the industry. Moreover, discuss the effect of the growth of the industry on
the growth of GDP, and/or the effect of GDP growth on the growth of the
industry. Make sure you discuss the effect of different stages of the business
cycles (recession and expansion) on the industry.

• Conclusion

Provide your own final thoughts, opinion, and understanding
of the different forces that impact the industry. In addition, state your
thoughts about the future of the industry and provide recommendations for
expanding it.

• Reference
List

Use at least three professional sources to support your
argument. The references need to be in APA format. To learn more about APA
format, click on the link below.

APA Resource

Week 5 &
6 Case Study: Macroeconomic Challenges: Unemployment and Inflation

This assignment is broken in to three parts.

• Part I
(Intro and Data): Due in Week 5

• Part II
(Analysis and Solution): Due in Week 6

• Part III
(Presentation)

Overview

A high unemployment rate in any economy is a symptom of
dysfunctionality in the economy. People need income to consume, and consumption
leads to production, and production leads to higher demand for labor
(employment), so unemployment is a crucial macroeconomic issue that confronts
all modern economies. A lower unemployment rate, however, is not the end of the
problem. The type of employment and the price of labor (wages) have to be
sufficient in order for consumption (which is the major component of GDP) in
the economy to be healthy. If wages are low or if the prices in the economy are
high, consumption would be low and thus, production and demand for labor would
be low, too. High unemployment rate, high part-time employment rate for
economic reasons, low wages, and high inflation could have negative effects on
economic growth.

Assignment Description

In this assignment, you need to identify two main issues
related to unemployment and inflation. Then you are going to study their past
trends, provide an overview of their current status, and provide solutions to
overcome them. You will use data, articles, experts’ opinions, and government
reports to draw a clear picture of the current unemployment and inflation
issues.

Some areas you might consider are (you could also choose
different topics) the following.

• Part-time
employment rates for economic reasons

• Unemployment
rates among young college graduates

• Unemployment
rates by gender

• Unemployment
rates among Black and Hispanic communities

• Low
supply of labor (professionals) in certain industries

• High
supply of labor in education

• Low wages
by profession and their causes

• Low
demand for labor in some industry (you could choose whatever industry you wish)

• Low wages
in some parts of the country

• High
unemployment rate among workers with high school diploma or less

• The
increase in the price of housing and its effect on investment

• The
increase in the price of healthcare and education and their effect on
consumption

Your research needs to be structured with consistent and
clear thoughts. It also needs to be supported by facts and data. Your results
need to be based on solid facts. Your conclusion and recommended solution need
to be thorough and based on your findings and understanding of macroeconomic
challenges and macroeconomic policies

Important Note:

Thecase study itself is a one assignment that is broken into
two parts over two weeks. Part I is due in Week 5 and Part II (including Part I
from Week 5) is due in Week 6.

The final and complete case study submission that is due in
Week 6 must contain the portion of the assignment that was due in Week 5. In
other words, the final assignment that is due in Week 6 must contain the
following sections: (1) Introduction (2) Data (3) Analysis (4) Reflection (5)
Solution (6) References.

The References should include a minimum of five sources in
the final Week 6 submission. As an
example, 3 sources could have been used in the Week 5: Part I assignment and 2
or more additional sources could have been used for the Week 6: Part II assignment,
equaling 5 or more total professional sources in the final combined References
page. Note that all references used for
Week 5: Part I should be included in your Week 5 submissionand in your Week 6
submission.

Part I: Due in Week 5

Writing Style and Page Number Requirements

Font Type: Times New Roman or Arial

Font Size: 12

Spacing: Double

Number of Pages: The final combined Part I and Part II case
study should be six (6) to eight (8) pages total,not counting the Title page
and References page

Structure and Requirements

• Title
Page

o Title of
the paper

o Name of
the author

o E-mail
address of the author

o Class
name

o Professor’s
name

o Date

• Introduction

Your introduction needs to include the following.

o Include a
clear definition of unemployment and inflation and how and why they occur and
rise in the economy.

o Also
provide your understanding of the relationship between economic growth (GDP),
high/low unemployment, high/low Inflation, high/low wages, and the way they
impact one another.

o Include
an overview of the current unemployment and inflation rates in the economy
using facts and statics.

o Include a
brief description of the two unemploymentor inflation-related issues that you
are going to address in this paper and their importance. Basically, why do you
think they are important to research and resolve?

• Data

o Obtain
data from at least five credible sources (not Wikipedia) to provide facts about
unemployment, inflation, and wages and their growth pattern and their current
status.

o Obtain
data about changes in unemployment and inflation rates for a period of 10
years.

o Obtain
historical data (10 years or more) about GDP growth rate (percentage) and Real
GDP volume (in dollar value).

o Obtain
data about the changes in the real wages since the year 2005 (before the
recession).

o Obtain
historical data (10 years or more) about the two issues you are going to
address, as well as data about their current status.

o Use
tables, graphs, and figures to support your argument. You can find the latest
unemployment and inflation data at www.bls.gov (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

• Reference
List

Use at least five (5) professional sources to support your
argumentfor the Parts I and II combined -Minimum of two (2) sources for Part
I.The references need to be in APA format. To learn more about APA format,
click on the link below.

APA Resource

Part II: Due in Week 6

Writing Style and Page Number Requirements

Font Type: Times New Roman or Arial

Font Size: 12

Spacing: Double

Number of Pages: Six (6) to eight (8)pages that include Part
I and Part II combined. Note that this
6-8 number of pages is not counting the Title page and References page that are
also required.

Structure and Requirements

• Analysis

This section needs to contain the following discussions
based on the data that was gathered and your understanding of unemployment,
inflation, GDP, aggregate supply, and aggregate demand, monetary policy, and
fiscal policy.

o Unemployment:
Discuss the trends of unemployment rates over the past 10 years and provide
your objective analysis of the changes in unemployment and the current rates.
Place extra emphasis on the periods where unemployment was either too high or
too low (higher or lower than the natural rate of unemployment).

o Inflation:
Discuss the trends of inflation rates over the past 10 years and their
relationship with GDP growth and decline. Highlight the years that inflation
was either higher or lower than usual and state the reason(s). Also state the
effect of the high and low rates on GDP.

o Wages:
Discuss the changes in real wages by major professions or industries and
highlight the periods wages declined or rose and state the reason for this
unusual change.

o Two
Issues (your choice): Here you will need to discuss the two unemployment or
inflation-related issues. Provide an overview of their trends and use facts to
highlight the major changes in their trends and their current statuses. State
the reason(s) why you believe these two issues represent a challenge for the
economy.

• Reflection
and Critical Thinking

This section needs to cover the following areas.

o Connect
all ofthe dots together by relating your above analysis to other areas in the
macroeconomy. Basically, you will link changes in unemployment, inflation,
wages, and GDP to one another and how they impacted each other during periods
of economic decline (recessions) and periods of economic growth (expansion).

o Highlight
the causes of the two issues that you selected and how they impact the economy
negatively and why they do need to be addressed by policy makers.

• Solution

o State
which macroeconomic policy (monetary policy or fiscal policy) that might
resolve the issues you highlighted above, and state how this policy could be
implemented and why it would solve these problems.

o Finally,
provide your own solution. Basically, answer the following question.

What would you do to solve the macroeconomic issues you
addressed if you were in charge of the U.S. economy? State why.

• Reference
List

Use at least five (5)professional sources to support your
argument. The references need to be in APA format. To learn more about APA
format, click on the link below.

This reference list should include the references used in
Part I that was due in Week 5 as well as the references used for Part II, for a
minimum of five sourcestotal from Parts I and IIcombined.

Part III: Due in Week 6

Presentation

Submit a presentation of your Week 6 Macroeconomic
Challenges Case Study. Review the requirements below and follow the steps
explained to create a presentation with an audio component.

Presentation Requirements

Your completed presentation should contain both text and
audio recordings.

Text Component

• Prepare
five to seven PowerPoint slides.

• The slide
should be attractively designed and easy to understand.

• The
slides should effectively combine text and visual elements (graphs and tables).

• Avoid
using long blocks of text. Instead, use bullets and short phrases to highlight
your ideas.

• Use
visual elements to provide evidence and make the presentation visually more
interesting.

Typical Presentation Organization

• Title
Slide: Title of project, your name, the name of the class, and the date of submission

• Introduction/Overview
Slide: A brief statement of the two macroeconomic variables that you selected
and the main points that you are going to discuss

• A Few
Body Slides: Provide an overview of the trends and current statuses of the two
variables using data and/or graphs. Provide a brief description of the main
challenges and or opportunities related to the two variables that you selected.

• Conclusion
Slide: Your proposed solutions to resolve issues related to the status of your
two variables and/or solutions to improve these two variables

• References
Slide: The list of the references you used to conduct your research

Audio Recording

• Record a
5- to 7-minute presentation, explaining the content of each slide.

• Your
narration will be attached to each of your PowerPoint slides, which is commonly
referred to as a Narrated PowerPoint.

• Audio
does not have to be attached to the title slide or references slide but is
expected to be included for all of the other slides (introduction/overview,
body slides, and conclusion).

How to Record Audio in a PowerPoint Slide

1. Open your
PowerPoint Presentation.

2. Click on
Insert at the top left corner of your presentation.

3. Click on
Audio at the top-right corner of your presentation and select Record Audio.

4. To start
recording, click on the recording button (the square with the red dot in the
middle) and start talking.

5. To stop
recording, click on the stop button (the square with the blue small square in
the middle).

6. Move to
the second slide and repeat the process explained in Steps 1 through 5. Make
sure you save the file every time you complete the recording for each slide.

Week 7 Final Case Study Outline

Regional Macroeconomic Analysis

Final Case Study – Overview:

Next week, you will complete a 200-point Final Case
Study. This week, you will complete a
high-level outline assignment. This week’s outline, and the corresponding peer
review discussion this week will both be very useful to you as
preparation.

The final case study requires you to conduct a regional
macroeconomic analysis based on at least 5 macroeconomic indicators for the
region where your sta