Reference no: EM133777111

Economics

Assessment - Case Study and Test

Assessment Type: case study and individual test

Assessment Description

Oligopoly and monopoly.

The macroeconomic environment: GDP, inflation, unemployment and interest rates.

Aggregate demand and supply, including changes in aggregate demand and supply and market equilibrium and disequilibrium.
Economic growth and business cycles.
Fiscal policy and monetary policy.

Assessment Instructions
Assessment 4 consists of two activities: Activity 1 is a group case study and Activity 2 is an individual test.

Activity 1: Group Case Study

You must form groups of 4 to 5 members before Week 12.
You will then complete the case study questions in your group, but only one group member needs to submit the final answers (for the entire group).
All group members will get the same mark.
All questions for the group case study are based on the article on the following page.
The group case study will be marked out of 10 and is worth 5% of your final mark for the subject.
The group case study is an open book, but AI prohibited assessment. That means you can only use the learning materials from MyKBS.

Activity 2: Individual Test

The individual test will take place after the group case study. The test will consist of short answer questions and multiple choice questions.
One of the short answer questions is based on the article on the following page.
The individual test will be marked out of 50, and is worth 25% of your final mark for the subject.
The test is an open book, but AI prohibited assessment. That means you can only use the learning materials from MyKBS.

Hong Kong (CNN) - China's economy grew stronger than expected at the start of this year, mainly thanks to robust growth in high-tech manufacturing.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 5.3% in the first quarter from a year ago, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. That beat the estimate of 4.6% growth from a Reuters poll of economists. It also marked an acceleration from the 5.2% growth in the previous three months.
...
China has set an annual growth target of around 5% for 2024, which many analysts considered ambitious, as consumer and business confidence remains weak and the real estate sector is mired in a prolonged downturn.

The authorities have cut interest rates this year to boost bank lending and speed up central government spending to support infrastructure investment.

"The economy appears within reach to meet the official target of ‘around 5%' GDP growth in 2024," Frederic Neumann, chief Asia economist for HSBC, told CNN.

Tuesday's data showed that retail sales grew 4.7% in the January-to-March period, boosted by spending in sports and entertainment activities, cigarettes and alcohol, as well as catering services.

Investment in fixed assets - such as factories, roads and power grids - increased 4.5% during the same period.
...
The property market is also a major drag.
Property investment slumped 9.5% in the first quarter from a year ago, according to NBS data. New property sales slid 27.6% during the same period.
Separately, new home prices in 70 cities fell 2% in March from a year earlier, which was faster than February's 1.3% drop, according to Goldman Sachs' calculation based on the NBS' latest data release.
"The property market's woes are continuing," Cruise said.
The embattled property market is weighing on consumer spending, as 70% of Chinese household wealth is tied to real estate.
Weak job prospects and economic uncertainty are also holding back household spending. In March, retail sales growth slowed to 3.1% from 5.5% in February.
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Confidence in the world's second largest economy among foreign investors, who had helped power growth during China's boom days, also remains weak.
The growth in first-quarter investment came mainly from state-owned enterprises, which spent 7.8% more than a year ago. Investment by the private sector increased by just 0.5%.

As for foreign companies, their investment in the country plunged by 10.4% in the first three months.

Beijing has made reviving economic growth its top priority for this year and has renewed its efforts to woo foreign investors.