Explain the effects of economic change on business and employment.

Explanation should include

• types of economic change (e.g., inflation, recession, expansion, depression, recovery)
• ways these changes can affect the business environment (e.g., employment levels, consumer confidence)
• ways these changes can affect the marketing environment (e.g., hiring, reduction in force, position elimination, reorganization/combining of job duties)
• reasons that economic forecasting is important to a business (e.g., product/service planning, purchasing, budgeting).

Process/Skill Questions:

• How might a tragedy or natural disaster change a nation’s economy? How might the political environment affect a nation's economy?
• What are examples of such occurrences that have directly affected the U.S. economy and business environment? What were the effects?
• How might a business prepare itself to address unexpected occurrences?
• Why is economic forecasting important? Why should businesses conduct PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) analyses?
• What are some of the key economic indicators? How is each important to a business?