TECO602NA Economic Environment of Business Short-answer Assignment (30% of final mark) The assignment consists of four questions. You should allocate at least half a page (or 250 words) to each answer. You may refer to academic literature and textbooks to help answer the questions. You must write your answers in a Microsoft Word document and submit it online in vUWS on or before the due date. You should provide a 'reference list' of the literature you have used. Plagiarism is forbidden and all assignments will be electronically checked for plagiarism before they are marked. Note: Wikipedia and anonymous amateur blogs should not be used as references. For definitions and basic concepts, your first 'port of call' should be a textbook. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following statement by the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) highlights the high cost of rental accommodation in Australia: "While many Australians are struggling with housing costs, the majority of those in housing stress are private renters. Rising rent levels have also increased the pressure on public housing and crisis accommodation services and contributed to the current rate of homelessness." Source: https://www.acoss.org.au/housing-homelessness 1) One proposal to alleviate the high cost of rental accommodation is government intervention in the form of restricting the increase in the cost of rental accommodation i.e. limiting cost to a level below the equilibrium cost set in the rental accommodation market. Analyse the impact of this policy in the rental accommodation market. (9 marks) 2) Another proposal is for the government to provide a subsidy to low income earners to improve the affordability of rental accommodation. How effective is this proposal in combating the high cost of rental accommodation? (9 marks) 3) Yet another proposal is higher government investment in public housing to provide additional rental accommodation. Analyse the effect of this proposal in the rental accommodation market. (9 marks) 4) Which is the most appropriate option, if any, to ease the high cost of rental accommodation in Australia