Assignment #3
Macro Intro

Your answers should be typed and single-spaced. Be sure to put the assignment number and name at the top of your paper to avoid any recording problems.

1. You are to read Oster’s "Witchcraft, Weather, and Economic Growth in Renaissance Europe?" (Resources) You are to write a 500 word brief in which you describe the link between the performance of the economy and the burning of witches? Are they related, and what lessons from modern times can we take from this article?

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2. How does your life compare to that of your grandparents? This is an issue taken on in "The worldwide standard of living since 1800." (Resources) You are to write a 500 word answer to that questions: How have things changed in the past 200 years? Are we better off than our grandparents? In the answer I would be interested in seeing if you think we are seeing how you can relate the author's view with your own family experiences. Take the opportunity to discuss the issue with your grandparents and see how it correlates with the article.

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3. It is time to check out some of numbers on your own - and you can do it by checking out the Info Sources on the home page for the course. There you will links to many indexes including Historical Data Series. There you will find a link to Economic Time Series page that will give you access to data on many macroeconomic variables and the software to easily graph them. What you need to do is use that site to create a graph of two variables for the labor and output markets and copy these onto a word document. The graphs must go back to at least 1990 and all of the graphs should be for the same time horizon. You are to use these graphs to tell a story about these two markets based on the graphs, and in your story focus your attention on cycles and trends in the graphs and any relationships between the four graphs. This is a very kool site and all you need to do to get the graphs to a word document is click on the graph to get a screen with just the graph and then right click on the graphs and copy it.