Macro Economics Unit Four Individual Project

Unit Four Individual Project

Abstract

This paper will research the South American country of Brazil in regards to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the unemployment rate. It will research data sets for an economic concern within Brazil and discuss a few relationships between GDP and the economy. This paper will discuss trends observed in the data sets and provide support for the asserted trends with statistical evidence.

Unit Four Individual Project

1.South American country and economic concern

Brazil is the largest country in South America; it is located in Eastern South America and borders the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil gained its independence in 1822 after being ruled by Portugal at which time it maintained a monarchy until 1888 when the military government took over. The military controlled the country until 1985 when the military handed the government over to civilian rulers. It is comprised of 26 states and has a total area of 8,514,877 sq km consisting of 6.93% arable land, 0.89% permanent crops, 92.18% other and 45,000 sq miles is irrigated land. The population of Brazil is 199,321,413 with a median age of 29.6 years old and an estimated growth rate of 1.102% (C.I.A.,2012). The economic concern this paper will look at will be Brazils Gross Domestic Product and how it affects the country’s economy. This paper chose Brazil because of its size. Being the largest country in South America could carry advantages as well as disadvantages when attempting to provide a strong economy for the people of Brazil.

2.Relationships between selected economic concern and country’s economy

According to the White House (2011) Brazil is the seventh largest economy in the world and is responsible for close to 60% of South America’s total GDP and had a 2010 GDP of over 2 Trillion Dollars. This is important to the people of Brazil because a growing economy translates to more jobs, better wages, more opportunities and the possibility for a better quality of life. Comparing the current GDP with the GDP from previous time periods will show an economy’s growth or lack of growth over time. When the GDP is increasing, the economy is growing and corporate profits during this time are generally strong. When the GDP is decreasing or showing signs of a slowing economy, those corporate profits will begin to slow which creates a negative impact on other economic categories such as GDP growth and unemployment. The slowing of the economy causes production levels slow, inventory begins to build up and less workers are needed to produce and move the inventory when the demand has fallen. This shows how important the GDP is to track and how it is a strong