This report is about an analysis of the economy with reference to some macroeconomic issue or some economic policy. You are to choose a major macroeconomic policy issue facing a country, compare it with another country where there is no such problem or where there has been a great policy response to the issue. You will compare the two economies and prepare a report (using the example of success economy) that can be used as a policy briefing paper providing recommendations to the other economy.
Steps:
1. Select 2 research papers choosing 2 different countries published in refereed/peer-reviewed journals related to topics studied in MACROECONOMICS in this unit.
2. Your research papers should be based on two different countries e.g. if you plan to do research on monetary policy, you may select an article based on Australia and another one on China, U.S., U.K., Japan etc. To give your report a global perspective, you will be making a comparative analysis of the economy being chosen to deal with the current issue with some other economy. An example can be, monetary policy as a very effective tool in a country like Australia and monetary policy not so effective as a tool in a country like zimbabwe. In this example, you are comparing a success story of an economy with an economy that has failed and providing recommendations to the failing economy. A great topic could also be the recent global pandemic due to COVID-19 and how two different economies deal with the crisis using macroeconomic policies.
NOTE: WHEN YOU READ THE JOURNAL PAPERS, YOU ARE NOT EXPECTED TO COVER THE METHODOLOGY SECTIONS OF THE PAPERS. So you can overlook the methodology section or the econometric models used in the papers and keep your focus on the research questions (aims of the papers) and the findings/ results of the papers. So do not worry about the data section.
3. The report should have sections such as (1) introduction (2) critical review for first article (3) critical review for second article (4) a comparative analysis of both the articles and (5) conclusion and recommendations based on the analysis followed by a reference section.
4. Also, attach a one page executive summary at the beginning of your report- this is optional.
5. The approximate length of the report is around 2000 words.
6. Attach the scanned copy of the full (or the first page, if the papers are too long) of two main articles and attach it at the end of your report. 7.You are required to refer to some other sources likepeer-reviewed journal papers related to the same topic and use the additional important information from other sources in your analysis. You should read from multiple sources and refer them in your report. As a rough guide, your reference section should have a good 10 references. This part will help measure the evidence and quality of your research. 8. For the theory and analysis section be sure to use AD and AS analysis related to macroeconomics, monetary policy and fiscal policy, please refer to the sample report.
Some examples of Australian peer-reviewed journal papers include Economic Record, Australian Journal of Labour Economics, Economic Papers.