Write a briefing note/paper up to 4 pages on COVID-19 and the Australian Economy and the fiscal and monetary policy responses. Provide in-text and end of list references throughout the briefing note and provide source of your data for every table/ graph.

1. Download 2009 to 2019 data from ABS https://www.abs.gov.au/ or FRED https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DSPIC96 on the key macroeconomic indicators: (i) real GDP per capita; (ii) underemployment; (iii) inflation rate; and (iv) one more key indicator of your choice to illustrate the state of the Australian economy. Present your data in the form of table(s) and graph(s) to illustrate the trends in the economy (preferably use all the indicators together in one graph). Briefly explain the trends over the last decade, using the term “dog days” in your trend analysis.
2. On a separate table(s) and graph(s) show how COVID-19 has impacted these main indicators over the first half of 2020 by using quarterly data. Explain the monetary and fiscal policy response to the COVID-19 by Australian government in 2020. Analyse the components of Aggregate Demand (AD = C + I + G + NX) to support your analysis.
3. Using the efficiency and equity criteria, measure the effectiveness of these policy actions and comment on whether these policy actions are enough to restore Australian economy post-pandemic.
   1. Discuss the efficiency implications of the accumulated public debt from the COVID-19 response over the foreseeable future.
   2. Discuss the equity implications of COVID-19 on the labour market outcomes considering factors such as income, age, gender, new graduates in the Australian economy.
4. Provide some recommendations based on your own judgements or by following examples from other economies on how to achieve full employment by 2023 or so.

Note: Here are some briefing papers/reports from BCEC (Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre) as examples on how economists write these short papers/ reports on various topics. The first link shows a BCEC report using ABS data.
https://bcec.edu.au/assets/2020/07/BCEC-Quarterly-Economic-Commentary-July-2020.pdf
https://bcec.edu.au/assets/2020/07/Higher-ed-changes_BCEC_FINAL-130720.pdf
https://bcec.edu.au/assets/2020/03/BCEC-COVID19-Brief-2_Potential-Job-losses_FINAL-2.pdf
https://bcec.edu.au/assets/2020/05/BCEC-COVID19-Brief-4_Working-from-home.pdf
Rubric –
In parts 1 and 2: accuracy, presentation, and brief explanation of the data in the tables and graphs – 5 marks
In part 2: degree of critical thinking applied to explain the impact of COVID-19 using 2020 data – 3 marks
In part 2: explanation of fiscal and monetary policy response and linkage to AD – 3 marks
In part 3: policy evaluation using efficiency and equity – 6 marks
In part 4: conclusions / recommendations – 3 marks