Discussion:
Topic 1
There are a number of economic and non-economic factors that affect long-run economic growth of countries. Among these factors, roles of physical capital, human capital, technology, and natural resources in influencing long-run economic growth of aggregate output per capita are widely discussed. Governments also play their roles in promoting and sustaining long-run economic growth of countries.
Empirical studies indicate that natural resources no longer play the largest role in affecting long-run economic growth since some of the natural resource rich countries are much poorer than natural resource poor countries.
Analyze the below questions.
• What factors might contribute to a low or high growth rates in a country? Why do some poor countries experience higher growth rates than others when all face the same challenges?
• Why resources are no longer the most important indicators of economic growth disparity among countries? Which other economic and non-economic factors do you think explain the reasons behind growth disparities among countries?
• How can sustainable long-run economic growth be realized? What are the roles of the government in achieving sustainable long-run economic growth?
Topic 2
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. In other words, GDP measures continuous flow of money from households to firms and then back to households in the whole economy.
The trend of the GDP growth rates is the key indicator of macroeconomic fluctuations (business cycle), which include expansion, boom, contraction, and recession. Thus the real GDP is used to explain how well the overall economy of a country is performing whereas GDP per capita is used as a natural measure of the economic well-being of the average individual in a given country.
However, there are limitations (shortcomings) in using the GDP as a measure of national income as well as a measure of national welfare.
1. What are the limitations of the GDP in measuring total output and national welfare? What products (services) are excluded from the GDP computation?
2. Is the GDP measure underestimating or overestimating national production and total income in the economy? Why?
3. What are the impacts of the shortcomings of the GDP as a measure of the national product and national welfare?
ASSIGNMENT
Select a GLOBAL Fortune 500 company (it cannot be one you work for) that operates in the United States and in other nations around the world. You will be using the same firm for the Unit 5 Assignment and the Unit 6 Final Project, so make sure it is one you are interested in and that has plenty of good sources of information available.
A. Summarize the firm's history, its recent and current operating results, and the economic, social, and political forces that affect it most.
B. Present a brief SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).
C. Discuss the factors it will need to predict, plan for, and adjust to in the future.
The Assignment is to be a five pages long (title pages, bibliographies, etc., do not count) and in APA format. A good variety of objective, high-quality, current sources need to be used.