JTCC Macroeconomics Mini Project- GDP around the World

Course outcome:  Students will be expected to demonstrate their knowledge on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to a country, through research and evaluation. 

Module-level outcome:  Given the project specifications, the student will research and evaluate the country’s GDP, productivity, balance of trade and rubric directions with 100% accuracy (Blooms Remember and Evaluate).

Assessment:  Students will complete the required research and evaluation in order to present the appropriate GDP information. (DoK2)

Concept:

GDP is a measure of our country's PRODUCTIVITY. When we produce more, and our national output increases (faster than population growth) then our STANDARD OF LIVING increases. I give a simple analogy ‐ in an undeveloped country, Ethiopia for example, a father goes out each day, and looks for food. The concern is to SUSTAIN yourself, not IMPROVE your standard of living. But here, in the US, it is different. I will use my family as an example. My grandfather had a radio of which there were not many choices. My dad had one of the first televisions‐‐a big improvement from my grandfather's day. Now today, there is Cable TV, IPODS, the Internet, etc. When we increase our productivity, our STANDARD OF LIVING rises. Every generation (so far anyway) has had a higher standard of living than the one before, because we are constantly increasing GDP. We are now in a tough time, and there are fears that we have lived beyond our means. In the coming weeks, we will see how we have borrowed against our future, and our NATIONAL DEBT is so concerning, some are wondering if the next generation MAY be the first to actually have a decline in STANDARD OF LIVING.

Learning Objectives: After successfully completing this activity, students will be able to:

• Explain how to measure GDP  LO 26.1

Explain and understand the unemployment rate

• Define Business Cycles  
• Assess the differences in trade balances among countries

Next Steps: Students will use the knowledge gained from examining our historical standard of living and the current state of the economy and make recommendations on what fiscal and monetary policies should be employed in a future paper.

GDP around the World

Each one of you will be assigned a country. While you will do some research, please do not just cut and paste information or read directly off websites; that is boring.

Using Adobe Spark with a county listed below or one you are interested in (not the USA) create an Adobe Spark presentation with voice over narration that includes all of the following information:  

https://spark.adobe.com/

You need to create a student account and register as a student. When you are working in Adobe Spark you need to click into the Video section in order to create this presentation. If you have trouble with Spark or do not feel comfortable using it you were welcome to use Power Point but you MUST include voice over on each slide.

Project Research Directions

1. (20 points) Find the Nominal GDP, and GDP per Capita in Dollars and World Rank for your country, and include where you got your source of information. 

(Examples include CIA World Fact Book, or International Monetary Fund Ranking). Also remind us the difference in Real v. Nominal GDP. Why do you think economists use GDP to assess the economies health?

2. (10 points) In addition to Productivity (GDP) ‐ what is the Unemployment Rate and what is the current state of Inflation of your country? How does that compare to the United States current inflation and unemployment rates? Also what part of the business cycle is that country currently in?

3. (10 points) What is their Balance of Trade? Who are their trading partners? What do they Import, and what do they Export?

4. (10 points) What type of Government do they have? How does it compare to the US?

5. (10 points) Identify the advantages and disadvantages of alternate measures of a country's standard of living.

6. (5 points) Tell us 3 other fun or important facts about life in your country.

 7 (5 points) Include all websites used in APA format on a slide.

 8 (10 points) Voice is used on most slides (except citation slide). Pictures are present on all slides to aide in comprehension of the material. Student voice is clear and information is recorded in a logical order. Presentation contains no grammar or spelling errors, or points will be deducted.

***If the project is submitted incomplete or with a recording error the highest grade you will receive is or 50% F.

**Note: There is a app on your phone for Adobe Spark, you need to test the mic on your computer in advance of the due date and prior to trying to begin to record and I recommend trying to use internet explorer if you run into any browser issues.

**Presentation is due Sunday March 14th into Canvas. The following class period several of the best presentations will be selected at random and shown to the class***

Suggested Countries (You may select a country not on this list- if you would like)