ECO 306 Final Project I Guidelines and Rubric Overview The first final project for this course is the creation of an informative presentation. The presentation will analyze U.S. interest rate behavior over a 10- to 15-year period during the last 50 years. Through your research, you will examine economic trends and risks, and the impact of monetary policy on interest rates. This presentation will provide an opportunity for you to develop an understanding of interest rate behavior. By analyzing a sufficient period of time, you will identify trends and changes in interest rates and witness the impact that key economic events have on interest rate determination. In doing this, you will develop an appreciation of the relationship between policy targets and market factors, which impact economic activity. The final product will be submitted in Module Three. In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following course outcomes:  Explain the determinants and behavior of interest rates as they relate to markets  Analyze the relationship between monetary policy and the economy for informing responsible business decision making Prompt For this final project, create a PowerPoint presentation of 8–10 slides analyzing U.S. interest rate behavior over a 10- to 15-year period during the last 50 years. You will access information in the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED) and create a presentation that includes speaker notes and visual representations of your findings. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: I. Overview: Define the specific interest rates and time period that you are analyzing, and explain why you chose them. II. Interest Rates A. Explain interest rate trends over the time period and whether they have been high or low by historical standards. B. Using FRED tools, visually illustrate changes in interest rates during the time period. C. Describe economic risk factors that have impacted interest rates in the time period and what kind of impact they had. Consider bankruptcies, financial crises, geopolitical factors, and so on. D. Describe underlying economic conditions that impacted the activity of these interest rates during the time period. III. Monetary Policy A. Discuss the impact of interest rate changes on general business decision-making. Consider expanding or contracting operations, deciding to undertake or postpone additions of capital (i.e., increasing productive capabilities), or increasing or decreasing inventories. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/ B. Explain the causal relationship between the federal funds rate and market rates of interest. C. Using your analysis of interest rates during the time period as a guide, explain the internal and external impacts on the economy. Deliverable Final Submission: Presentation Submit your presentation in Module Three. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the crit ...

1. ECO 306 Final Project I Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
The first final project for this course is the creation of an
informative presentation. The presentation will analyze U.S.
interest rate behavior over a 10- to 15-year
period during the last 50 years. Through your research, you will
examine economic trends and risks, and the impact of monetary
policy on interest rates.
This presentation will provide an opportunity for you to develop
an understanding of interest rate behavior. By analyzing a
sufficient period of time, you will
identify trends and changes in interest rates and witness the
impact that key economic events have on interest rate
determination. In doing this, you will
develop an appreciation of the relationship between policy
targets and market factors, which impact economic activity. The
final product will be submitted in
Module Three.
In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the
following course outcomes:
s and behavior of interest rates as
they relate to markets
economy for informing responsible business decision making

2. Prompt
For this final project, create a PowerPoint presentation of 8–10
slides analyzing U.S. interest rate behavior over a 10- to 15-
year period during the last 50 years.
You will access information in the Federal Reserve Economic
Database (FRED) and create a presentation that includes
speaker notes and visual representations
of your findings.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Overview: Define the specific interest rates and time period
that you are analyzing, and explain why you chose them.
II. Interest Rates
A. Explain interest rate trends over the time period and whether
they have been high or low by historical standards.
B. Using FRED tools, visually illustrate changes in interest
rates during the time period.
C. Describe economic risk factors that have impacted interest
rates in the time period and what kind of impact they had.
Consider bankruptcies,
financial crises, geopolitical factors, and so on.
D. Describe underlying economic conditions that impacted the
activity of these interest rates during the time period.
III. Monetary Policy
A. Discuss the impact of interest rate changes on general
business decision-making. Consider expanding or contracting

3. operations, deciding to
undertake or postpone additions of capital (i.e., increasing
productive capabilities), or increasing or decreasing inventories.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/
B. Explain the causal relationship between the federal funds
rate and market rates of interest.
C. Using your analysis of interest rates during the time period
as a guide, explain the internal and external impacts on the
economy.
Deliverable
Final Submission: Presentation
Submit your presentation in Module Three. It should be a
complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical
elements of the final product. It should reflect
the incorporation of knowledge and feedback gained up to this
point in the course. This submission will be graded with the
Final Project I Rubric.
Final Project I Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your presentation should be 8–10
slides with speaker notes, visual representations of your
findings, and citations adhering to the
latest edition of APA formatting.
Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (85%) Needs
Improvement (55%) Not Evident (0%) Value

4. Overview Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation demonstrates
exceptional balancing of
brevity and detail
Defines the specific interest
rates and time period being
analyzed, including an
explanation of why they were
chosen
Defines the specific interest
rates and time period being
analyzed, including an
explanation of why they were
chosen, but definition is
cursory or explanation is
incomplete
Does not define the specific
interest rates and time period
being analyzed
4
Interest Rates: Trends
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation demonstrates a
complex grasp of how interest
rate trends compare to
historical standards
Explains interest rate trends

5. over the time period and
whether they are high or low
by historical standards
Explains interest rate trends
over the time period and
whether they are high or low
by historical standards, but
explanation is illogical or
contains inaccuracies
Does not explain interest rate
trends over the time period
11
Interest Rates:
Changes
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
illustration demonstrates a
masterful use of FRED tools to
show changes in interest rates
Visually illustrates changes in
interest rates during the time
period using FRED tools
Visually illustrates changes in
interest rates during the time
period using FRED tools, but
illustration is unclear or
incomplete
Does not visually illustrate

6. changes in interest rates during
the time period using FRED
tools
11
Interest Rates: Risk
Factors
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
description demonstrates a
sophisticated awareness of
how economic risk factors
impacted interest rates
Describes economic risk factors
that have impacted interest
rates in the time period and
what kind of impact they had
Describes economic risk factors
that have impacted interest
rates in the time period and
what kind of impact they had,
but description is incomplete
or impacts are unrelated
Does not describe economic
risk factors that have impacted
interest rates in the time
period

7. 11
Interest Rates:
Economic Conditions
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
description demonstrates a
complex grasp of underlying
economic conditions that
impacted interest rates
Describes underlying economic
conditions that impacted the
activity of these interest rates
during the time period
Describes underlying economic
conditions that impacted the
activity of these interest rates
during the time period, but
description contains
inaccuracies or is illogical
Does not describe underlying
economic conditions that
impacted the activity of these
interest rates during the time
period
11
Monetary Policy:
Business Decision-
Making

8. Meets “Proficient” criteria and
discussion demonstrates a
sophisticated awareness of the
relationship between interest
rate changes and general
business decision-making
Discusses the impact of
interest rate changes on
general business decision-
making
Discusses the impact of
interest rate changes on
general business decision-
making, but discussion is
unclear or unrelated to the
impact
Does not discuss the impact of
interest rate changes on
general business decision-
making
16
Monetary Policy:
Causal Relationship
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation demonstrates a
complex grasp of how the
federal funds rate and the

9. market rates of interest
influence each other
Explains the causal relationship
between the federal funds rate
and market rates of interest
Explains the causal relationship
between the federal funds rate
and market rates of interest,
but explanation is cursory or
has gaps in logic
Does not explain the causal
relationship between the
federal funds rate and market
rates of interest
16
Monetary Policy:
Impacts
Meets “Proficient” criteria and
explanation demonstrates a
sophisticated awareness of
how the interest rates
impacted the economy
Explains the internal and
external impacts on the
economy, using the analysis of
interest rates during the time
period as a guide

10. Explains the internal and
external impacts on the
economy, using the analysis of
interest rates during the time
period as a guide, but
explanation is incomplete or
does not relate to interest rate
analysis
Does not explain the internal
and external impacts on the
economy, using the analysis of
interest rates during the time
period as a guide
16
Articulation of
Response
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and
organization and is presented
in a professional and easy-to-
read format
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact
readability and articulation of

11. main ideas
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
4
Total 100%
This version: July 17, 2019
Poli 113A: Final Exam
Summer I, 2019
Professor Victor Magagna
Due on Turnitin.com by Aug 2, 12PM
1 Exam
1.1 Prompts
Please choose one of the following questions, and write a
response of 6–7 pages. Please do not include
pictures, charts, or figures in your responses.
#1 Explain Confucian elite regulation. You must cite from the
lectures.
#2 Explain Confucian moral and ritual theory and practice. You
must cite from the lectures.

12. #3 Explain the role of the district magistrate. You must cite
from the lectures.
#4 Explain international management. You must cite from the
lectures.
#5 Explain the neo-Confucian renovation. You must cite from
the lectures.
1.2 General Requirement
We recommend that you write a paper with a well structured
argument that is supported by proper
citations.1 The paper should be a synthetic presentation of the
course materials combined with your
interpretations. You must demonstrate a keen understanding of
the course materials to receive
a grade of A (94%) or higher.2 You must turn in your exam to
Turnitin.com via TritonEd. We do
not accept submissions through emails or physical copies. For
detailed exam instructions, please read
Section ?? of this document.
1.3 Example Header of the Paper
You only need to include your name, the course name, and the
title of the prompt that you are responding
to in the header. You only need to include the header in the first
page. Example of the header is as
follows:
[YOUR NAME]
POLI 113A, Final Exam

13. [PROMPT TITLE, i.e.: "#1: Explain Confucian Elite
Regulation"]
1If the quote is from a lecture, then you need to specify date of
the lecture. If the quote is from a book, then you
need to provide the page number. You must include a “Works
Cited” page at the end of the paper.
2Whenever you submit an assignment, you should remember
that take-home essays are not completion grades. In
other words, you should not expect to earn an “A+” grade on an
assignment merely because you submitted a paper
that does not break any obvious rules. You do not begin with
100% and lose points thereafter. Rather, by submitting
a “passable” exam you will earn a “passable” grade. Better
grades are reserved for the highest quality work.
1
1.4 Format
Use standard formatting (points will be deducted otherwise):
• Double spacing,
• 11 or 12-point font (e.g. Times, or Helvetica),3
• 1 inch margins,
• No more than 1 inch of space dedicated to title and header,
• No extraneous space between paragraphs or headers.
1.5 Citation
Cite lecture and class readings where appropriate (points will be
deducted otherwise):

14. • Include a bibliography page at the end of your paper,4
• Include in-text citations throughout the paper,5
• You may use any standard citation style, (MLA, APA,
Chicago, etc.),
• Please do not use outside sources,
• Extensive amount of footnotes is not encouraged,6
• Please do not copy/paste lecture notes into the text of your
response.
• Please do not simply paraphrase the lecture notes or the book.
• Plagiarism (including self-plagiarism) will not be tolerated.
We will report any violations to the
Academic Integrity office, and the University will assemble a
team to assess the incident.
3Fonts such as Courier are not allowed, because they add at
least 1-2 pages to the paper due to the spacing
between texts. A rule of thumb is to stick with 12pt Times New
Roman.
4The bibliography page does not count toward your page count.
5If you are citing a particular lecture, then you can use
“(Lecture, MM/DD)” for in-text citations.
6You should expect to write more than the page requirement if
you include a lot of footnotes at the cost of
delivering a coherent argument.
2

15. 2 Fine Prints
The following information is also included in the syllabus.
2.1 Email Policy
Please send all inquiries to [email protected] Emails sent to an
individual TA will not receive
a reply. This email address will be actively managed until
August 6 at noon. Please contact Professor
Magagna directly for additional questions after this date.
2.2 Submission Policy
You must turn in your exam to Turnitin.com via TritonEd. We
do not accept submissions through
emails or physical copies. Please contact the IT office,
[email protected] if you encounter technical
difficulties. We won’t be able to help troubleshoot or extend the
deadline for you if Turnitin is down
when you try to submit your paper, so it is recommended that
you try to submit the paper 4–5 hours
prior to the deadline so that the staff at the IT office can help
you troubleshoot in case of an emergency.
2.3 Late Policy
• Papers received between August 2 12:01PM and August 3
12PM will be penalized by 1/3 of a
letter grade (e.g. A– → B+).
• Papers received between August 3 12:01PM and August 4
12PM will be penalized by 2/3 of a
letter grade (e.g. A– → B).
• Papers received between August 4 12:01PM and August 5
12PM will be penalized by a letter

16. grade (e.g. A– → B–).
• According to the University policy, all grades must be final as
of August 6. To ensure sufficient
time for administrative duties, we can only accept and grade
papers received by August 5 at noon.
That is, papers not received by August 5 at 12:01PM will
receive a grade of zero.
• If an emergency occurs or a University-related duty prevents
you from submitting your assignment
on time, you must let staff members from the Dean’s office
contact us on your behalf. We do
not accept late assignments without a letter from the Dean’s
office.
2.4 Regrade Policy
According to the University policy, all grades must be final as
of August 6. Since the deadline of the
final exam is August 2, the TAs are unable to provide regrades
of the final exam due to the tight time
constraint. If you believe you’ve received a grade that does not
reflect the quality of your work, please
contact the professor. Regrade request is not guaranteed, and if
regrade is provided, the updated grade
may be higher, the same, or lower than the original grade, and
the updated grade will be final. If you
believe you’ve received a grade based on nonacademic criteria
such as discrimination, you can appeal
the grade. Please read the Academic Senate policy [Regulation
502 – Grade Appeals] for more details.
3
ExamPromptsGeneral RequirementExample Header of the

17. PaperFormatCitationFine PrintsEmail PolicySubmission
PolicyLate PolicyRegrade Policy
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