Title: GDP: Happy 25th birthday to
Australia's economic growth
Author: ONG, Thuy
Date of publication : 07/09/2016
Summary paragraph
Australian economy grew by 3.3% over the year to June 2016
Growing at the fastest rate in 4 years
Signs look good, but it is still possible for a recession to occur
Unemployment rate is 5.7% nation-wide, but higher in WA & SA
GDP has only grown because of government spending
Private investment spending & exports have decreased by a large amount
Consumption spending has also decreased by a large amount because
of large household debt levels
Do NOT introduce your economic concepts yet - talk about the concepts in the main body of your commentary
Concept 1: GDP
Definition
Market value of all final goods & services produced within a
nation's geographic borders during a period of time, usually
a quarter or a year
Explanation
GDP is calculated by totalling all of the spending on final goods & services
in the economy. GDP = C + I + G + (X - M)
Households (as Consumption spending)
Government (as Government spending)
Firms (as Investment spending)
Overseas sector (as Exports)
Supporting evidence from the article
GDP growth was 3.3%, slightly above average & exactly what
economists were predicting
GDP growth was at fastest rate for 4 years
Whilst the economy is in "good shape", there is still
potential for the economy to go into recession
Defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth
(or a situation where the economy is shrinking)
This could occur because mining exports are no
longer making up a large part of the economy
There is also concern about what caused the increase in GDP
Government spending on building projects (G2) added 0.7% to GDP
A very large addition to GDP
Government spending was large enough to offset decreases in
other sectors of the economy
If G decreases, the economy may slow down
G2 mostly went towards building roads & other
transport-related infrastructure
Investment is "in a state of collapse", therefore is
not contributing much to GDP
The External (or foreign, or overseas) sector contracted,
therefore it did not contribute as much to GDP
Household consumption also decreased, so this is not
contributing as much to GDP
Concept 2: Circular flow model
Definition
A diagram showing the flow of products from firms to
households, the flow of resources from households to firms
& the flow of money payments in return
Sectors include households, firms, the government sector,
the financial sector & the foreign sector
Explanation
Households sell resources (land, labour, capital & enterprise) to firms in the resource
market. In return, households receive income. Households then spend most of their
income purchasing goods & services from firms in the product market.
Households save money in bank accounts, this is considered to be a leakage from
the model into the the banking (or financial) sector. The money is then injected
back into the model as businesses borrow money from banks to invest in capital.
The government collects taxes from households and businesses, which represents a leakage from the model. The
government then injects money back into the model as government spending on wages for public employees (such as
teachers, nurses &police officers) (G1) & for public infrastructure (such as roads, bridges, schools & hospitals) (G2).
Households & businesses spend money on purchasing goods & services from overseas (imports) which represents a leakage
from the model, as money is flowing out of the model, to foreign economies. Consumers from overseas countries purchase
goods & services from Australia (exports), which allows money to flow back into the Australian economy (injection).
Supporting evidence from the
article
1st point
2nd point
3rd point - you get the idea
Concept 3: Business Cycle
Definition
Explanation
Conclusion
Sum up the content of the article
Re-state how your first concept related to the article
Re-state how your second concept related to the article
Re-state how your third concept related to the article