Writing assignment

  Writing Assignment Students are expected to analyze an economic podcast. These analysis are meant to bolster the knowledge learned in class and ground our class using news articles and current events. The purpose of this assignment will be to strengthen and enhance your ability to explain economic theory, apply it to current real-world issues and evaluate the effectiveness of economic theory to explain what is occurring. Before reading the rest of the assignment details, listen to the podcast below. http://freakonomics.com/podcast/uber-economists-dream/ The following guidelines should be followed: • Use the APA format to write your paper. • The length of the assignment is not long à 2 – 3 pages double spaces. o It should not be less than 2 pages • Cite all your sources. Anything that is not properly cited will be considered as Plagiarism may be given a “0” or asked to redo the entire assignment. Summary (10 pts): A short summary of the podcast should be included. This summary should capture the key points presented in the article and any important facts or elements. Do not spend the whole assignment summarizing the entire article. Summaries should be succinct and to the point and be approximately one paragraph. Key Economic Terms (20 pts): List 3-4 key economic terms that are mentioned or related to the article. You do not need to include the definitions of these terms. (Examples: Supply, Demand, Markets, GDP, Prices, Inflation, Opportunity Costs, Economics Growth, Business Cycles, etc.) Analysis (70 pts): This is the most important aspect of the assignment. The analysis should tie in the podcast material to the coursework. In other words, analysis should focus on how topics covered in class are applicable/relevant to the real world. Additionally, students can focus on whether they agree with what is stated in the podcast or what their recommendations may be. Students can also analyze how the material in the podcast will impact the economy in a micro setting. The analysis portion has the potential to be varied in nature. However, I recommend sticking to my guidelines (especially for the first few). Examples: How incentives/opportunity costs affect decision-making for businesses/nations. What role do supply and demand theories play in determining key market outcomes? How does the construction of our measurements of GDP, inflation, unemployment, or other key variables affect our analysis? Be specific, in-depth, & precise in your statements! The objective of these assignments is to use critical thinking to think about course subject and the articles in a meaningful way. I will not give lower grades for grammatical mistakes. However, if the writing is too incomprehensible/unclear, there will be a reflection in the overall grade.