Macroeconomics I Ketevani Kapanadze
Project description
- 30% of total grade
Logistics: You can work in a group of up to three people. Only one submission per group is enough.
The deadline of the submission is 11:59 am (noon), May 5, 2020, via email. Late submissions will
receive a penalty, reduction in points, depending on the delay. You are asked to write an essay up
to three pages in length. Based on the essay, you will build the presentation and present your
findings during the class on May 6 and May 7, 2020. You will have maximum 30 minutes (10
including Q&A) for the presentation, therefore plan the number of slides accordingly!
Task: Pick up a country and describe its current state of the economy using various indicators
that we have learned during our classes (GDP, inflation rate, interest rate, unemployment rate,
etc.). Using the appropriate graphs and charts show how these indicators have changed over
time. Therefore, you may need to collect data from various sources (central bank, central
statistical office, various ministries, the IMF, the WB, etc.). You should discuss how the
economy was evolving before the financial crisis (2007-2008). Consider that the audience does
not have a comprehensive knowledge of the conditions in the country, therefore if some
important event happened, make sure to mention it/them and also explain how it affected the
economy (for example, armed conflicts/civil wars, revolutions, natural disasters, etc.).1 Further,
you should emphasize how the economy coped with the crises, how the central bank and the
government intervened to restore the macroeconomic situation. The interventions can include
an expansionary monetary policy, a tightened fiscal policy or any other types of policies. Write a
brief discussion of the recent state of the economy of the country. You should be able to
determine in which part the economy is doing well and where the real hurdles are. Conclude
your analysis with the projections, explain where the economy is heading into the near-term
future (within the next 5 years).
1
This does not mean you should describe the history of the country, mention only reasonably recent events.
Macroeconomics I Ketevani Kapanadze
Tips:
 Provide appropriate figures. For presenting the evolution of an indicator, use a time
series plot (you can use any software for that, including Excel). Clearly define each
indicator that you analyze and state the source of the data you use;

 Clearly indicate references to the source of information you are using, plagiarism is
not tolerated in academia!

 Rely only on trusted sources! Webpages like Wikipedia and Economics Memes will not
work! You might cite sources, such as academic or non-academic journals or reports
(e.g. central bank / statistical office reports (monthly/quarterly/annual economic
reports, monetary policy decisions, inflation reports, etc.)
OECD/ECB/IMF/WB/AFDB/ADB reports, The Economist, The Independent, Bloomberg,
etc.), blogs of professional economists (Krugman, Stiglitz, Romer, etc.);

 For describing the future trends in the economy, you might use outlooks of the
international institutions, including the WB Global Economic Prospects, The IMF WEO,
the OECD Economic Outlook, etc., which are available for free (obviously, you will need
to use the most recent publication) from the institution’s web pages;

 Most probably, you will find that there are opposing views regarding the government
actions. Your task is to describe major prevailing opinions, critically evaluate, and
provide your suggestions about government policy.
Macroeconomics I Ketevani Kapanadze
Abbreviations:
ADB – Asian Development Bank
AFDB – African Development Bank
ECB – European Central Bank
IMF – International Monetary Fund
OECD – Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development
WB – World Bank
WEO – World Economic Outlook