ECON 2410
THE MANITOBA ECONOMY

TERM 1
2015-2016 REGULAR SESSION
PROFESSOR F. BARAGAR

ASSIGNMENT #1

DUE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2015

Aggregate expenditures in the national income accounts are composed of consumption expenditures, investment expenditures, government expenditures, and net exports (i.e., exports less imports).

Your assignment is to prepare a report on the net export component of the aggregate expenditures for the Manitoba macroeconomy.

The report should contain both economic data and an interpretation and explanation of that data. As an example of  what the report should contain, you may wish to review the section on “Exports and imports” on pp. 13-16 of the Report on the Manitoba Economy 2011. You can view this assignment as constituting and update and reappraisal of the 2011 Report.
Your report should:
1) Make use of the most recent data.
2) Consider recent trends and developments, but it is probably not necessary to consider and analyze data from before 2007.
3) Where appropriate, make use of your knowledge of the relevant economic theory in your explanation and interpretation.
4) Try to assess, as best you can, the current (2015) situation regarding net exports of the Manitoba economy.
5) Suggest what we might expect regarding net exports in the near future (e.g., for 2016).
6) If you use data expressed in dollar values, be sure to clearly indicate whether the values are expressed in current (nominal) or constant (real) dollars.
7)  Be sure to clearly indicate what the source is for all of the data and information that you use in your report. In other words, provide clear references so that the reader of the report can easily find and check any data or information, if he or she should wish to do so.
8) If you quote phrases or sentences directly from another source, you need to identify the quotation by using quotation marks, and provide the reference for that source.

Your report must NOT exceed 4 double spaced, typewritten pages (excluding charts, diagrams, tables, references).

It is acceptable for students to work together in their research for and discussion of the content of this assignment. However, each student must prepare and submit their own, individual, distinct assignment. Joint or group assignments, or duplicates and copies of someone else’s assignment, are not acceptable.

The assignment must be handed in before 4:30pm on Monday, October 19, 2015. Please provide a hard copy, not an electronic copy. Please be sure that you have kept an extra copy of the assignment for your own files.