Assignment
1 Summative Assignment 2 ECON1012 Principles of Economics Semester 2 2022 Course Learning Outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 Topic/s of Primary Focus: Government Intervention in Markets (May also include content from previous topics.) Read the following The Guardian article ‘‘$15 pint’: biggest tax hike in 30 years paints sobering future for Australia’s beer drinkers’ (2 Aug 2022) https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/aug/01/15-beers-biggest-tax-hike-in-30- years-paints-sobering-future-for-australias-ale-drinkers Tax office has raised excise by 4%, leaving Australians with the world’s fourth-highest beer tax behind Norway, Japan and Finland Pour one out for Australia’s beer drinkers as the price of a pint at the pub surges up to $15 (£8.60/US$10.50) following the largest tax hike in more than three decades. The Australian Tax Office announced the excise on beer would be lifted by 4% on Monday under its CPI indexation review. The Brewers Association of Australia said it was the biggest increase in more than 30 years to hit a market that was already taxed more than “almost any other nation”. “We have seen almost 20 increases in Australia’s beer tax over the past decade alone,” CEO John Preston said. “Sadly, we’re now seeing the impact as pub patrons will soon be faced with the prospect of regularly paying around $15 for a pint at their local. “For a small pub, club or other venue the latest tax hike will mean an increase of more than $2,700 a year in their tax bill – at a time when they are still struggling to deal with the ongoing impacts of the pandemic.” Australia’s excise on beer is adjusted twice a year according to inflation, which is growing at its fastest pace in more than two decades with a peak not expected until the end of the year. Wine operates under a separate taxation system. For a full-strength beer served from a keg in a pub, the excise will increase by $1.51 to $39.27 for every litre of pure alcohol. For packaged beer, the excise will increase by $2.14 to $55.73 per litre of alcohol. Publicans and brewers are also pointing to the increased price of labour, energy, ingredients and other inputs for increasingly expensive pots, pints and schooners. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/aug/01/15-beers-biggest-tax-hike-in-30-years-paints-sobering-future-for-australias-ale-drinkers https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/aug/01/15-beers-biggest-tax-hike-in-30-years-paints-sobering-future-for-australias-ale-drinkers 2 A report by economist and University of Adelaide professor Kym Anderson AC, commissioned by the Brewers Association in 2020, found Australians paid the fourth- highest beer tax in the world compared with advanced OECD and EU countries. Only Norway, Japan and Finland paid more. The next highest-taxing countries were the United Kingdom and Ireland, but their rates were still about 30% lower than Australia’s between 2018 and 2020. Task: One possible justification for a tax on beer is that alcohol consumption causes a negative externality. Explain what this means, why it might be the case, and how a tax might improve economic efficiency under these circumstances. Ensure that you use diagrams where relevant to support your answer, and make sure to use key terminology and course concepts where appropriate. Note: The reality of the case is not the imposition of a new tax, but an increase in tax – meaning that a tax is already in place. However as this is an introductory level course, for simplicity you can depict this on your diagram as a change between no tax and adding a new tax. Format: The format of your response should be an essay-style response. You do not need subheadings or subsections. You do not need to spend as much attention on formal essay structure as you might for a persuasive or research-based essay. Instead you should focus on communicating your ideas in a clear and concise manner and making sure there is a logical flow of ideas and explanation. Word Limit: 800 words (excluding diagrams and references) Diagrams: As stated in the task, you should include diagrams where relevant. Where you use diagrams, they should be created by you. You could either draw them by hand and scan/photo them into your document. Or prepare them electronically. However, they must be your own work. You should not paste in diagrams from the internet or the textbook, even with referencing, as this will not adequately show the grader your understanding of these diagrams and models. 3 Referencing: This is not a research assignment. So you do not necessarily need to find other references. You should answer the question based on what you have learned in the course and the excerpt provided. However, it is important that if you do take content directly from other sources including course materials, both quoting and paraphrasing, that you appropriately reference to show what is your own original thoughts and what ideas you have borrowed from others. Please refer to the https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/resources/avoiding-plagiarism for further guidance and links regarding referencing, plagiarism, and academic integrity. Where referencing is used, it can be in any standard style, so long as it is consistent. The Harvard referencing style is preferred, as it is the standard in Economics and is also common in Business disciplines. https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/resources/referencing-guides All submissions will be analysed with the assistance of Turnitin, checking for plagiarism against other students in the class and external sources. Submission and Feedback Students must submit the assignment by the due date via the electronic submission portal on MyUni (the same page you downloaded this pdf!). https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-upload-a-file-as-an- assignment-submission-in-Canvas/ta-p/274 It is students’ responsibility to ensure that it is correctly submitted by the due date. Make sure that you see and check that is says ‘Submitted’. Late submissions will generally *not* be accepted at all. Not even one minute late. This might seem more strict than some of your other classes, but do keep in mind that we also have a ‘best 4 of 5’ policy on the Summative Assignments. If you have a medical or other circumstance that you believe may allow an extension, please email the course coordinator as soon as practical, and generally this must be before the due date has passed. Assignments will be graded, with grades and feedback provided within MyUni approximately one week after the submission due date. https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/resources/avoiding-plagiarism https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/resources/referencing-guides https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-upload-a-file-as-an-assignment-submission-in-Canvas/ta-p/274 https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Student-Guide/How-do-I-upload-a-file-as-an-assignment-submission-in-Canvas/ta-p/274 4 Grading The assignment will be graded against the Assessment Criteria in the Rubric attached to the MyUni Assignment and detailed below. Grades will be allocated in-line with the University’s grade descriptors. Score (%) Grade General Description 0-49 F Fails to satisfy the minimum requirements 50-64 P Satisfies the minimum requirements 65-74 C Demonstrates a high level of understanding and presentation and a degree of originality and insight 75-84 D A very high standard of work which demonstrates originality and insight 85-100 HD Outstanding or exceptional work in terms of understanding, interpretation and presentation Your grade is not matter of where you ‘lost marks’, but rather the evaluation of what you have presented against the standards and the criteria. The assessment rubric on MyUni also relates your assessment against the main criteria to achievement against Course Learning Outcomes. This is based on the assessment criteria; but is not separately relevant to the assessment grade. Assessment Criteria Marks (100) Evidence is shown of understanding of all relevant economic concepts and terminology, which are correctly applied throughout 25 Details of case study are clearly and correctly related to relevant economic concepts, including with appropriate terminology 10 Student-produced demand and supply diagram/s are correctly depicted and are used wherever relevant to support the explanation 30 Analysis presented provides a logical and well-structured explanation to all three questions within the task 30 Appropriate writing style, word count and referencing (where relevant) 5 https://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/700/?dsn=policy.document;field=data;id=5082;m=view