you are required to produce a State of the Nation report for government ministers: Economics Assignment, RMIT

Overview

You are required to write a report for the quarterly State of the Nation government meeting. The report you are to prepare needs to address each of the following;

i) Provide an overview of Singapore’s economy;

ii) Provide evidence and analysis of the recent performance of Singapore’s economy;

iii) Detailed analysis of current economic events impacting global energy markets and the implications of this for the Singaporean economy;

iv) Policy recommendations supported by economic modelling that address both short and longer term objectives; and

v) Provide a technical appendix that uses economic modelling (to support parts i) to iv)).

The purpose of this assessment is to develop your capacity to access quality data and verifiable information and undertake data analysis to write a formal report that assesses the conditions in the economy. It is important that you present your report in a clear, logical, factual and visually impactful manner that provides direction to support effective decision making by government and policy makers.

Learning Outcomes

The targeted Course Learning Outcomes for this assessment are:

CLO1:Apply economic models and frameworks to inform macroeconomic policy and business decision making.
CLO2: Source, analyse and interpret economic  data to inform macroeconomic policy and decision making.
CLO3: Critically evaluate various schools of macroeconomic thought and their suggested policy responses to a range of events and conditions.
CLO4: Communicate the findings of economic analyses to diverse audiences in a professional manner.

Assessment details

Assume you have been hired as an economic analyst by the government. In your role you are required to produce a State of the Nation report for government ministers.

Using the report template provided insert your ‘answers’ and graphs into the appropriate sections. Be sure to carefully read and follow the instructions for each section. (For example, where you are required to produce ONE chart/diagram for a section, you must only produce one – if you produce more than one chart you will receive a zero mark for that rubric requirement).

Your report must address each of the FIVE sections below and as you progress through each section findings from the previous section should inform your analysis so that the final report is cohesive. For each section it is important that you consider how you will present your analysis. (For instance, simply stating a statistic is inappropriate – you will need to contextualise the information).

Assignments must be submitted electronically via Canvas and must constitute your own work (this is not a group assignment). All submissions will be checked via Turnitin for any form of plagiarism.  Any sections/paragraphs/sentences that are not your own work (as identified by Turnitin) will be penalised and excluded from marking. Furthermore, evidence of plagiarism will not be tolerated and may result in charges of academic misconduct.

Remember that you are producing a report for ministers in government therefore your writing and expression should be professional and succinct and your assessment submission must be structured as a report not simply as answers to questions like in a test.

If you decide to use bullet points, each bullet point should not exceed 50 words. (Note: Do not use bullet points to simply describe any chart generated as this is duplicating information that is clearly visible in the chart and will not earn any marks).

Be sure to observe word limit requirements and provide well-crafted answers that provide adequate information and explanation without being either too brief (insufficient detail) or too long (long winded).

Section 1:  Overview of Singapore’s economy

In this section, provide an overview of the Singaporean economy. Key points to address include:

Type of economy and role played by different sectors (households, firms, government and external sector)
Using data from SingStat (hint: explore data under economy>National accounts> Gross Domestic Product (GDP)) identify both the top-level Good Producing Industry and the top-level Services Producing Industry for 2021. Note: the top-level industries may have sub-categories below them (e.g. Wholesale and Retail Trade is a top level industry while Wholesale Trade and Retail Trade which both sit separately under this top-level industry are sub-categories). For both the top-level industries identified provide a figure showing the contribution made by each towards Singapore’s GDP in 2021. Also calculate the percentage share of GDP each of these represents and contextualise the significance of these industries to the Singaporean economy.
Summarise where Singapore’s economy sits compared to other national economies in terms of the overall size of its economy as well as in terms of GDP per capita (hint: use reputable open source data and cite the evidence you find that informs your answer). Explain what this reveals about the Singaporean economy and standard of living.

Section requirements: 

This is a broad question designed to give insight into the nature of the Singaporean economy. Students are expected to address each of the specific points outlined. To support answers provided remember to cite references where necessary and be sure to only use reputable sources. (Remember do not quote full sentences or paragraphs – you can paraphrase where necessary, but you must cite the sources of the information you use – plagiarism of any type will not be tolerated).

Section 2: Singapore’s recent economic performance

In this section you will prepare charts and conduct analysis of Singapore’s economic performance.

Economy – National Accounts – Expenditure on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) –  Expenditure On Gross Domestic Product In Chained (2015) Dollars, Frequency: Annual
Economy – National Accounts – Gross Domestic Product – Gross Domestic Product In Chained (2015) Dollars, By Industry (SSIC 2020),  Frequency: Annual
Prices and Price Indices – Consumer Price Index (CPI)/Inflation Rate – Percentage Change in Consumer Price Index by Household Income Group (Highest 20%, Lowest 20%, Middle 60%, Overall), Annual
Economy – Labour, Employment, Wages and Productivity – Unemployment Rate – Average Resident Unemployment Rate by Sex, Age and Highest Qualification Attained, Annual

Using the downloaded data address the following:

Trends in Expenditure on GDP 1961-2021

Generate ONE Excel chart showing the annual level of GDP, Private Consumption Expenditure, Government Consumption Expenditure, Gross Fixed Capital Formation, Changes in Inventories and Net Exports of Goods and Services, from 1961 through to 2021.
Discuss the trends reflected in the chart including factors that help explain and interpret what the chart is showing. In your answer be sure to address any important developments over the past 60 years that have impacted Singapore’s performance with respect to GDP.
To assist the government ministers in understanding your report include a comment to explain what the change in inventories reflects and how this may be interpreted.

Contributions to GDP by Industry 2018-2021 

Generate ONE Excel chart showing the contributions to GDP made by the 11 aggregate top-level industrial sectors that sit under the Goods Producing Industries (4 industrial sectors) and also the Services Producing industries (7 industrial sectors). Present your chart showing annual data for the period 2018 to 2021.
Generate ONE Excel chart showing the year ended growth rates the 11 aggregate top-level industrial sectors (from the previous chart). Present your chart showing annual growth rates for the period 2018 to 2021.
Analyse and discuss what the two charts produced for this sub-section reveal about how various industrial sectors have performed over the past few years. Be sure to address possible reasons for the performance that is observed and where possible provide evidence or an example to support your answer.

Inflation over the period 2018-2021

Generate ONEExcel chart to show the annualised percentage change in the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI). Also in your chart include the annualised change in the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the following three household income groups: highest 20%, lowest 20% and middle 60%. Present your chart showing the annual percentage change in CPI for the period 2018-2021 inclusive.
Generate ONE Excel chart to show the percentage change in the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) as well as the percentage changes in consumer spending on the composite groupings ‘Food’ and also ‘Housing and Utilities’.
Discuss why inflation rates measured by the Consumer Price index (CPI) may differ across household income groups.
Explore the data used in this sub-section which breaks down overall CPI to consider changes in the composite groups and specific items that form part of the basket of goods and services used to calculate CPI. Address what this reveals about recent cost-of-living pressures within Singaporean society.

Labour Force over the period 2001-2021

Generate ONE Excel chart to show the overall unemployment rate in Singapore and also the unemployment rates associated with having a university qualification compared to not having a university qualification. Plot the annual rates over the period 2001 to 2021.
Discuss the trends reflected in the unemployment chart including factors that help explain and interpret what the chart is showing over the 20-year period.
Outline why investment in human capital is important to the Singaporean economy. In your answer link this to evidence in the earlier part of your report and/or desktop research you undertake exploring data in SingStat Table Builder.

Section 3: Impact of changes in global energy markets 

For this section you are required to conduct desktop research to consider the impact of current events and/or any relevant national or international policies that has implications for global energy markets and what this means for the Singaporean economy.

Be sure to cite sources you use to support evidence and analysis you present (also you will need to reference all the sources you cite at the end of your report in a Reference list).

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