This unit presented a significant challenge, especially when compared to other first-year actuarial units. Unlike ECC1000/ACC1100, relying solely on memorization is insufficient for success in this course. The ability to effectively express yourself and structure your answers proves to be of paramount importance, arguably surpassing the significance of content knowledge. However, the way they taught and tested was very interesting and the lecturer always ensured that we were challenged and encouraged to participate.

The lectures were streamed online and recorded. The lecturer kept things very interesting and engaging during seminars and she always used real life examples to show how theory applies to the economy. The lecturer would also use the seminars to show the interplay of different macroeconomic theories and explain them in a depth that you cannot get in the textbooks, so you needed to watch the lectures to get through the unit.

Tutorials in this course generally do not require advance preparation. While attendance is not mandatory, it is highly recommended. Attending tutorials provides the opportunity to ask questions related to assessments and gain a better understanding of course material. It's especially important to be present on weeks when you have presentations or are required to provide feedback, as these activities contribute to your overall grade, and missing them could result in a loss of easy marks.

The assessments were the country analysis group assignment and the tests. The tests required you to understand the content of the unit and to prepare, you'd need to go over content, do practice questions, attend the help sessions and ask for help as well. The tests themselves were not too difficult but you do need to understand the content and graphs. The country analysis task was challenging because it was a group task and all the people in the group needed to have a good understanding of the content to do well especially for the report.

The exam was not open book, no cheat sheets, no calculators. I would rate it a difficulty of 7/10 as the questions were expected in terms of difficulty and they matched the practice exam's level of difficulty. The exam was based on all of the week's content but a large emphasis was placed on the later and more complex topics that we did.

Students should constantly ask themselves how each new concept relates to everything they've learned so far. The ability to connect concepts in ECC1100 back to one another not only demonstrates a deep understanding of the unit's main objectives but also enables students to craft in-depth responses. When structured properly, these responses are likely to earn high marks.