Topic Each student will write prepare a report about the current conditions of the United States economy. The report will include an overview of economic conditions in the United States from the beginning of 2016 until the latest indicators available. You will use indicators from the data sets that are available in the course web page. Some of these indicators are released on a weekly or a monthly basis before the end of a quarter. Economists use these indicators to assess the performance of the economy in any period of time. Using these indicators, you will describe the current state of the United States economy. You will use data for income, consumption and sales, investment and inventory, housing prices and sales, mortgage rates, prices and inflation, unemployment and benefits, labor wages, average hours, interest rates, exchange rates, stock prices, oil prices, the trade balance, and others. The indicators that will be used include the industrial production and capacity utilization, consumer confidence, retail sales, auto sales, the index of purchasing managers, manufacturing and trade inventories, new home sales, existing home sales, building permits, housing starts, the house price index, construction spending, mortgage rates, the money stock, crude oil prices, the non farm payroll employment, the unemployment insurance claims, the Federal funds rate, the ten year treasury yield, the S&P 500 index, the Dow Jones index, the Nasdaq, the trade weighted exchange index, and other indicators that will be discussed in class. You will also explain the adopted monetary policy and fiscal policy in the economy.The first section of the report will include an assessment of national income including consumption spending, investment spending, government spending, and net exports. The second section will include an assessment of inflation, core inflation, energy prices, and food prices. The third section will include an assessment of unemployment and underemployment. The fourth section will include an assessment of asset prices. The fifth section will include a discussion on the business cycle. Another section will discuss the conduct of monetary and fiscal policy. A final section will consider the value of the currency. Your grade will depend on the sufficient and appropriate use of data and indicators. Your grade will also depend on the ability to link economic theory and intuition to the analysis.Format The paper needs to be typewritten. The analysis should be included in a maximum of 5 pages. Any bibliography or other material, such as tables and graphs, should be included afterwards. The font should be no less than 12, and the format is single spacing.
