Assignment #1

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This assignment has 3 parts:

Think of items that you have purchased in a market:

• Big ticket items like a house, or an apartment rental, or a car;
• Or ordinary items in your weekly budget, like coffee, tea, gasoline, bread, Milk, etc.

You can consider some of the following questions in your contribution.

1. How would you use what you have learned concerning Supply and Demand to explain these trends?
2. What price trends have you noticed over the last few years?  Do the prices fluctuate? Have prices increased or decreased steadily?
3. Have there ever been any shortages or surpluses?  How would you explain that?

Assignment #2

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This assignment has 2 parts.

Please use your own experiences to answer the following questions and address the following topics. In your contribution to this week’s Discussion Board, you will discuss how you are affected by unemployment, one of the country’s biggest macroeconomic policy concerns. Address both of the following in your discussion:

1. Explain an experience that someone you know, including yourself, had with unemployment. Think about the reason for the unemployment, and how long it lasted. Did you or your acquaintance take a part-time job or a job for which they were overqualified to ensure they would have an income?
2. Over the last 7 years, the national unemployment rate has dropped steadily. How has that affected      you?

Assignment #3

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This assignment has 2 parts.

Please use your own experiences and the knowledge you have gained from this week’s readings to answer the following topics and questions. This week, you will discuss how you are affected by fiscal policy. For instance, you could write about how tax cuts affect you and then how they affect the economy as a whole.

Think back to 2008. The U.S. Congress passed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which provided tax rebates for low- and middle-income taxpayers. Include both of the following points in your discussion:

1. Did you receive a tax rebate?  If so, did you save it or use it for a new purchase or to pay your bills; or, did you put it in the bank? (If you did not receive a tax rebate, you can either put yourself in the position of someone who did or discuss      someone you know who did receive a tax rebate to write your contribution.)
2. Thinking deeper about your answers, explain about how tax cuts or rebates affect millions of other people and their decisions, and then how that affects the whole      economy.

Assignment #4

Details

This assignment has 2 parts.

This week you will discuss how you are affected by the Federal Reserve’s monetary policies. In your discussion, please consider the following questions or statements.

The Federal Reserve is responsible for managing the country’s money supply. Monetary policy affects the whole economy through interest rates.  When the Fed increases the money supply, interest rates drop. When the Fed decreases the money supply, interest rates increase.

1. Think about a recent purchase you made that required a loan, like a house, or a new car.  Explain how you arrived at the decision to purchase.  Then explain how the interest rate on the loan affected your purchase.  For instance, were      you able to purchase a higher priced item because the interest rate was low?
2. Thinking deeper about your answers; how do interest rates affect millions of other buyers and their decisions, then how that affects the whole economy? Explain.

Assignment #5

Details

This assignment has 3 parts.

The purpose of this assignment is to become familiar with the terms import and export, and then discuss advantages or disadvantages of buying imports versus buying domestic products. You could, for instance, write about an imported automobile, stereo, or household appliance that you bought or considered buying. Include all of the following points in your discussion:

1. If you were a retailer, would you want to sell domestically made goods or imported items? Please explain why you made this choice.
2. If you wanted to sell a good or service to customers in other countries, what sorts of items do you think you could export?
3. In your opinion, should the United States’ Federal Government support companies that want to enter export markets? Please explain.