Really, Really, Really Important: This written assignment is a required part of this course. You must earn a minimum of 60% on this assignment to pass the course. If you choose not to complete this assignment, you will earn zero points (F) making it impossible for you to pass this course.
1. Excel Spreadsheet: (3 points)
Rubric:
3points: Complete Content / Well Organized – Easy to follow
2points: Complete Content / Not well organized – Difficult to follow
1point: Incomplete Content and/or Really Unorganized.
(Google: CIA Factbook)
A. Choose a country from Africa, Central America, or Southeast Asia. Include your country name in your post.
B. Using Excel, create a five column spreadsheet containing the following geographic, social and economic data for the US and your country using the two most recent years available in the CIA Factbook.
If you are not sure how to set this up, just ask! You may use the Country Comparison Spreadsheet provided in the assignment. You may also be creative with color / fonts to make your spreadsheet stand out.
Note: Some items will only have one year available and that is fine! You do not need to go beyond the CIA Factbook.
1. Region of the World
2. Type of Government
3. Population
4. Age Structure (%’s)
5. Sex Ratio
6. Life Expectancy at Birth (Male / Female)
7. HIV % – Adult Prevalence Rate
8. School Life Expectancy (Male / Female)
9. GDP(Purchasing Power Parity)
10. GDP per Capita (PPP) – calculated (GDP / Population)
11. Labor Force
12. Unemployment
13. Inflation
14. Debt-External
15. Debt as a % of GDP – calculated (Debt / GDP)
16. Exports
17. Imports
18. Net Exports – calculated (Exports – Imports)
2. Word Document (2 parts):
Part 1: (5 points)
Rubric:
5 points: Answered all four questions / Well Written / Easy to Follow
3 points: Answered three out of four questions / Fairly Well Written / Less than three grammatical/spelling errors
1 point: Answered one or two questions and/or many grammatical / spelling errors
Based on your research discuss the following (One good paragraph for each topic.):
1. Tell the economic strengths and weaknesses of the two countries.
2. Tell whether the countries appear to be in a recession or recovery and explain why.
3. How would the countries’ social situation (Items #1-8) impact the economy?
4. Explain how the countries might be able to improve their economy by focusing on some of their social problems.
Part 2: Glossary of Terms: (2 point)
In your own words, define all of the social and economic terms listed above. Keep the definitions simple. Paragraphs are not necessary.
You do not need to define Region of the World, Type of Government, or Population.
