Compare and contrast the nationwide data with the firm level data.

Format: Reflection paper should be 3-5 pages (excludes title and reference page) and written in APA or MLA style format. Citations and references must be included. References must be in the correct style: a link to a site or webpage is not a citation.

Milestones and Due Dates for Reflection Paper:

Students select a company or organization, which allows access to economic data, such as sales, prices, employment, interest rates, etc. Examples of industries clearly impacted by the macro economy include: automotive, home building, steel, airlines, and household appliances.

Students will conduct independent research using online and library resources for the selected company or organization. Also, the paper should define basic nationwide macroeconomic indicators that affect the whole economy as well as any data that affects the company.

The paper must address the following items:

1. Give an overview of the company, history, products, etc.

2. Find basic macroeconomic indicators such as the unemployment rate, GDP (increases and decreases), and the inflation rate. Find firm level indicators such as sales figures, profit or loss, number of factories or number of employees, and so on. You don’t have to use all these but use the ones that you think are relevant. Economists are always interested in year to year changes.

3. Compare and contrast the nationwide data with the firm level data. This means that you’ll make some inferences about the performance of the firm related to the national economy. I would use data starting in the 4th quarter of 2007 (when the most recent recession started) through 2014. We are now in a recovery period. Is your firm cyclical in that it follows the national economy or is it counter-cyclical, doing the opposite of the national economy?

4. This part will be your analysis of fiscal and monetary policies on your company. Economists always disagree on something like this so there is no “correct” answer. It’s your own analysis that counts. The Fed increased the money supply and lowered the interest rates during this period to stimulate spending and borrowing. Congress also passed spending bills to inject more money into the economy. You can analyze the impact that these measures had on your company’s performance or even survival.