William Rainey Harper College MACROECONOMICS PAPERS SPRING 2014 ~/~ Home ~/~ Syllabus ~/~ Schedule ~/~ Lecture Outlines ~/~ Assignments ~/~ Textbook Website ~/~ Online Lectures ~/~ Blackboard ~/~

The purpose of the article analyses is to help you learn to make connections between theory and reality. This connection, of course, can be made, but it is not always a smooth one. For each unit you are to find an article in the popular press. You must make sure you have the right type of article , as well as an article that provides enough information. You may want to show your article to the instructor BEFORE you begin writing. Then you are to ANALYZE the article using the GRAPHS and DETERMINATES covered in a particular chapter (or chapters) in each unit.

Try not to spend too much time finding an article. DO NOT page through every section of the newspaper. Here are some suggestions on where you can look to find good articles quickly (especially for articles 2, 3, and 4):

• The Wall Street Journal
  • front page, second column from the left
  • Mondays, second column from the right
  • page A2
  • first page of Marketplace Section (for article 1)
• Business Week magazine
  • a section on cream colored paper called "Economic Outlook" (?)
• U.S. News and World Report magazine
  • a section on cream colored paper called "Economic Outlook" (?)
• Chicago Tribune (Business section)
• USA Today (Money section)
• The Christian Science Monitor
• Infotrac (a computerized index in the library)

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

ALL PAPERS MUST:

• be typed
• double spaced
• include the article (neatly taped or Xeroxed onto a piece of typing paper)
• include bibliographical data
• include student's name and CLASS MEETING TIME
• have NO plastic covers, etc.
• be stapled in the upper left-hand corner
• graphs in papers 2, 3, and 4 must be hand drawn
• graphs must be discussed IN THE PAPER
• you must tell the reader when to refer to the graph
• graphs WILL NOT contain numbered axes, exact data is not important, we are concerned with CHANGES
• graphs must show these CHANGES
• Papers that are rewritten must be handed in with ALL previous drafts stapled together.

PAPER 1: STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT (Ch.2)

• Find an article
• Locate the country discussed in the article on world map [map] and include it with your paper
• Which policies?
• What are the goals of these policies?
• What are the problems or possible negative effects? 
• Use quotes from the article to highlight these points

PAPER 2: SUPPLY AND DEMAND (Ch. 3)

Find an article on an INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT whose PRICE and QUANTITY SOLD has changed. Your analysis should indicate why the price and/or quantity has changed by noting which non-price determinates of demand or supply have changed. The article must mention at least TWO non-price determinates that have changed. If the article mentions more, then you must discuss them in your paper as well. Use supply and demand graphs to show changes in the equilibrium price and/or quantity. Clearly state what happened to the non-price determinates, what happened to supply and demand, and what happened to the price and quantity sold of the product as a result.

PAPER 3: AGGREGATE SUPPLY and DEMAND (Ch. 12)

Now we will be discussing the WHOLE ECONOMY and we are looking for changes in unemployment (UE), inflation (IN), and economic growth (EG). for article 2 you must find an article that discusses a change in unemployment, inflation, or economic growth and include at least TWO non- price level determinates of aggregate demand and/or aggregate supply. Clearly explain what changes occurred to these determinates and what effect these changes had on UE, IN, and EG. Do this by using AS/AD graphs which show a change in equilibrium (see textbook figures 12.7 - 12.11 and yellow pages).

PAPER 4: MONETARY POLICY (Ch. 16)

The last article must mention a change in monetary policy by the Federal Reserve Board. Often articles will say the "Fed" changed the money supply, or changed interest rates. Actually, the Fed has three main TOOLS that it can use to change excess reserves in the banking system. This will encourage banks to make more or fewer loans which will affect the money supply and interest rates. Your article must mention WHICH TOOL the Fed has used to change the money supply, HOW they._ used that tool, and WHAT EFFECT it is expected to have on UE, IN, and EG. You will use a series of THREE GRAPHS to show all these changes. (see monetary policy graphs in the yellow pages