BUSINESS ECONOMICS ASSIGNMENT 1

This assignment must be submitted No later than 26^th July 2014 20.59 GMT

 

MBAN-611 7/7 BUSINESS ECONOMICS ASSIGNMENT 1 

Answer both  questions. Total assignment marks: 100

 

Your answers to this assignment should include references to recently published journal articles or books, media news as well as information on the web. Where appropriate you are encouraged to challenge relevant economic theories providing your own justified views.

 

Question 1

Describe the business environment in the city or town that you live in. You should explain what the current economic environment is and how this environment encourages or inhibits business activity. Don’t simply say the environment is good or bad. You must justify your view and give examples to support your answer.

In answering this question, you should also examine the level and nature of competition in at least five different types of product markets. You should explain the type of market structure that exists in each of these product markets. You should clearly explain whether firms mainly engage in price or non-price competition and whether there is much or little competition and why? Based on your answers above, discuss the effects that the above business environment has on consumers and society in general. (40 marks)

 

Questions 2

Critically examine the effectiveness of various approaches that may be used to reduce macroeconomic instability. Your answer should identify and show an understanding of the various policies that a country’s government and/or central bank may use to achieve generally accepted macroeconomic goals. You are also encouraged to suggest your own ideas as to what should be done to more effectively attain desired macroeconomic goals. In your answer, you should explicitly identify macroeconomic goals that governments generally pursue. Are these the most important or do you think governments should aim to achieve other goals?

(You are encouraged to make use of aggregate demand/aggregate supply analysis.) 60 marks

 

You are required to type up and submit a Word document file which will include your answers to the above two questions.

In preparing your answers to the assignment, you are required to follow the specific guidelines below: You are to work on this assignment individually without the help of others. Your answer should be grounded in relevant economic theories. The word limit for Question 1 is between a minimum of 700 and a maximum of 1000 words, and for Question 2 a minimum of 1100 and a maximum of 1500 words. Use Times New Roman or Arial 12 pt with 1.5 spacing between lines. Include a cover page with the name of the course and course code, your full name and student ID number, and the date. Pages must be numbered. Headings and sub-headings should be clear and visible. The text should flow smoothly, with each section leading naturally and logically to the next one. This assignment is due one day before the end of the course end date. Late submissions will not be accepted. Reference all sources appropriately using the Harvard Referencing system. Note that although you may include direct quotes from various sources of information, your answer should not merely be other people’s work. That is, even if you identify the sources of information that you use, you should not copy too much information directly from other sources. Try to paraphrase as much as possible and include your own thoughts in your answers. Even if you paraphrase you still need to identify the source of information. When you copy directly be sure to identify the pages. Finally, when you include your own thoughts be sure to justify them with supporting references. All assignment answers will be checked for plagiarism using TurnItIn. This assignment comprises 90% of your total grade. To pass the course you must obtain at least a grade of 60%. MBAN-611 7/7 BUSINESS ECONOMICS ASSIGNMENT