Assignment: Taking Pulse of the Economy
There are two main goals for this assignment. First, you will be asked to find data for 5 important macroeconomics variables. Second, you will be asked to describe and analyze the graphs with those variables.
In order to obtain the most up to date data, you will use an incredible economic database maintained by St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank called FRED.
Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) is a database maintained by the Research division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis that has more than 500,000 economic time series from 81 sources. The data can be viewed in graphical and text form or downloaded for import to a database or spreadsheet, and viewed on mobile devices. They cover banking, business/fiscal, consumer price indexes, employment and population, exchange rates, gross domestic product, interest rates, monetary aggregates, producer price indexes, reserves and monetary base, U.S. trade and international transactions, and U.S. financial data. The time series are compiled by the Federal Reserve and collected from government agencies such as the U.S. Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The economic data published on FRED are widely reported in the media and play a key role in financial markets. In a 2012 Business Insider article titled "The Most Amazing Economics Website in the World", Joe Weisenthal quoted Paul Krugman as saying: "I think just about everyone doing short-order research — trying to make sense of economic issues in more or less real time — has become a FRED fanatic."
Source: Wikipedia
Directions:
The task for this assignment is quite simple.
First, using FRED find the data (graphs) for the following five variables:
1. Real GDP
2. Real GDP per capita
3. Inflation rate based on CPI
4. Civilian Unemployment Rate
5. Effective Federal Funds Rate + Bank Prime Loan Rate + 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Average (all on one graph by clicking on "Edit graph" and "Add line")
Here is the link to the database: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/.
You should watch the short screencast below that will help you with this part of the assignment.
Second, carefully describe and analyze each graph. You should first explain what exactly the variable on the graph is. Next, you should comment on the relationship between the variable and the periods of recessions (shaded areas) and expansions. You should mention the periods when the variable on the graph was at its peak and why. When was is at the lowest level and why? For each graph I am expecting at least two paragraphs (300 words) of detailed explanations.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
You can submit the assignment two ways.
One way is by preparing a traditional hard copy assignment that you will hand in class (or on blackboard for the online classes). In that case your assignment should include a title page with your name, title, and date! All the pages must be numbered!
A second way, and a much more exciting way for you to prepare this assignment is to create a website with all the text, graphs, and links that are relevant for analysis posted online. As you know, we are using an OER textbook in this class. This means that all the material that you are using is provided to you free of charge since the authors of the text decided to use an open license. In the spirit of giving back, this is your opportunity to shift your role from being a knowledge consumer to a knowledge creator. I challenge you to prepare and write an assignment that is not destined for the garbage bin after I grade it, but to create an assignment where your work adds value to the world.
In order to get started with your own site (google sites), please follow this link and watch an instructional screencast:
Once you prepare your site, send me a link and I will add it to my own website dealing with the topic of the minimum wage. The link to my own site, where I will showcase your work is:
https://sites.google.com/view/macroeconomicdata/home
Feel free to come and talk to me about your assignments and send me your preliminary versions for comments and review in order to improve your grade on this assignment. Feel free to discuss your assignments with other students, however all essays must be written individually by each student. No co-authoring allowed.
Due Date: On the day of the final exam.