Subject Code : ECOM4000
Assignment Task:

Part A: Microeconomics
 
Source 1. Macquarie Analysis: Woolworths Trails Coles on Grocery Prices

Woolworths is failing to close the gap on Coles when it comes to prices. A Macquarie Securities analysis reveals the cost of a selection of everyday groceries at Woolworths stores has fallen 1.9 per cent since early March. However, Coles did even better, posting a 3.1 per cent cost decline for the same period based on the same goods. Seasonal drops in the cost of fruit and vegetables underpinned grocery price falls for both major supermarket chains. The analysis suggests Woolworths needs to do more to revive its supermarket business, and quickly. "Woolworths is rapidly losing share as their strategy takes time to implement," the report said. Macquarie estimates Woolworths has lost 1.5 per cent of market share in the past year despite broader market growth of about 7 per cent.

Source 2: Supermarkets Price War

Fruit and vegetables have just become the latest battleground in the discount war between supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths. Coles' bid to get a bigger share of Australia's grocery market kicked off today with a flurry of ads spruiking discounts on fresh produce. The latest round of cuts comes on top of Coles and Woolworths scrambling to undercut each other on items such as bread and milk. But while lower prices may be good news for consumers, farmers' groups are renewing warnings that the price war risks driving growers out of business. Not all growers are happy. They say the supermarket price wars are making it tough for them to stay in business. William Churchill, a spokesman for peak body Ausveg, says dropping prices at Coles places pressure on the rest of the industry. "Ausveg's main concern is, are these discounts for Coles growers sustainable? And what's this going to do to the rest of the industry as growers and farmers who supply to independent retailers, Woolworths, or even just the markets, start to see their sales volumes through those outlets dry up as people start to shift to Coles for these prices," he said. "We're seeing some substantial heartache happening in the milk industry, we're seeing growers producing milk for less money and they're having to work more for that," he said.

Part A: Microeconomics Questions

Question 1:
What type of market structure do Coles and Woolworths operate in? Justify your answer with reference to some limited research and the appropriate economic theories. Your answer should include a diagram.

Question 2:
Based on your answer to Question 1, and with reference to the appropriate economic theories, discuss the effects of pricing in this market, especially in regard to revenues. Is it in the interests of Woolworths and Coles to have a price discount war? Why or why not?

Question 3:
What type of market structure is the market for vegetables provided by farmers? Explain why with reference to Sources 2 and 3 and the appropriate economic theories.

Question 4:
How would falling prices for vegetable products due to the price war affect the individual vegetable producer? Demonstrate your answer with reference to a diagram showing only an individual farmer’s cost curves. Would small farmers be forced to leave the market in the long-run? Why or why not?

Part B: Macroeconomics

Source 1: Spanish Growth Quickens, Says Central Bank

Bank of Spain Raises Its Economic Forecasts for This Year and Next
 
MADRID—Spain's economy grew at its fastest pace in six years during the second quarter, in contrast to the rest of the eurozone where growth appears to have stalled. 
The Bank of Spain said Wednesday that Spanish gross domestic product likely expanded 0.5% in the second quarter, compared with the first, up from 0.4% growth recorded in the first quarter. The growth figure is the first official estimate for the three months from April to June.
 
Spain doesn't release annualized growth estimates. According to The Wall Street Journal's calculations, the euro zone's fourth-largest economy grew at an annualized pace of 2% in the second quarter. Economists say this level of growth is likely to make Spain the best or one of the best economic performers in the eurozone in the quarter, largely due to a series of effective economic reforms and because of a rebound effect after a long economic slump. But observers also caution that Spanish growth may be peaking, as the export-led recovery is in danger of petering out in the absence of a clear improvement in the global economy.
 
Jennifer McKeown, an economist at Capital Economics, said that a higher contribution to Spanish growth from domestic consumption in recent quarters, after years in which companies and households have focused on paying back debt, may not be enough to sustain current expansion rates. 

"Given sky-high unemployment with an unemployment rate of 24.47%, the risk of deflation and the fact that public and private-sector deleveraging has further to run, a recovery led by domestic spending seems unsustainable," Ms McKeown said. "While Spain is set to be one of the eurozone's best performers this year, with GDP rising by 1% or a bit more, the recovery could yet prove to be short-lived."

The Bank of Spain said a gradual recovery in domestic consumption led to a faster-than-anticipated economic rebound. It added that it now anticipates that Spain's economy will grow 1.3% in 2014 and 2% in 2015, slightly above earlier projections of 1.2% and 1.7%, respectively. 
Spain exited a two-year recession in the second half of last year and has since been one of the strongest-performing eurozone economies, buoyed in particular by soaring exports.

Part B: Macroeconomics Questions
 
Question 1:
Based on the article and graphs above, what phase of the business cycle do you believe Spain was in during 2013? Explain why with reference to theory and represent this phase of the business cycle using an aggregate demand and supply model.
 
Question 2:
Based on the article and graphs above, what phase of the business cycle do you think Spain has entered in 2014? Why? Use your aggregate demand and supply model from Question 1 to demonstrate what happened to the economy in 2014.

Question 3:
Given Spain’s most recent unemployment rate, if 17,353,000 people were currently employed how many people would be unemployed?

Part B: Macroeconomics Questions

Question 4:
Based on the article above, what phase of the business cycle is the Indian economy experiencing in 2016? Justify your answer with reference to economics theory and support your analysis with a graph showing where the Indian economy is operating.

Question 5:
How would the falling energy costs affect the Indian economy in 2016? Why? Show this effect in your graph from Question 1.

Question 6:
What macroeconomic indicator should be monitored closely in India in 2016? What can the Reserve bank of India do to control this indicator?


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