- Summarize/outline one of the text’s “applications” chapters. There are a number of interesting chapters toward the end of the Micro section that we unfortunately won’t have time to cover. Most of those apply concepts we’ve learned to real-world issues. They tend to be descriptive — long on facts/info, light on concepts/graphs/math — so should make for pretty straight-forward outlines. So your assignment will be to develop a 1-2 page outline/summary of the key points/information presented in one of those chapters. You can use my chapter outlines as a guide/example, though you won’t have to worry about many graphs, formulas, etc.. If you do run into any of the latter, just list the main points/implications in words; you don’t need to recreate graphs/formulas. Your outlines should cover all main sections of the chapter, but you obviously do not need to include everything within each section. Here are the five chapters to choose from:
- Chapter 19: Natural Resource and Energy Economics
- Chapter 21: Antitrust Policy and Regulation
- Chapter 22: Agriculture: Economics and Policy
- Chapter 25: Immigration
- Chapter 42: The Economics of Developing Countries
- Summarize/analyze an article that applies/illustrates some of the key concepts we’ve learned. There are many potential topics, but here are a few suggestions (skim the chapter listings for other ideas):
- Impact of price controls — rent control, minimum wage, etc.; whether/why it leads to a shortage/surplus, history, side effects, reasons for/against, alternatives, etc.
- Behavioral Economics — how has a specific bias/behavior driven a current/historical event (asset prices, vaccine uptake, political bias, etc.)
- How recent supply/demand imbalances have caused inflation in a specific market — housing, used cars, etc.
- Cryptocurrency — why might prices be justified . . . or a bubble?
- Income inequality — causes, trends, solutions, etc.
- Impact of labor unions
- Other ? ? ?
For this option, you’ll need to:
- Locate and provide a link to an article that covers recent/past developments on your topic (Google various descriptions of your topic to find articles)
- Summarize the key points from the article
- Do you agree or disagree with the article’s main theme/conclusions?
- If applicable, bring in additional data/facts to either update, elaborate upon, or perhaps counter the key points in the article
- Cite at least 1-2 additional articles that you referred to in rounding out your understanding of the topic and shaping your arguments.
There’s no set formula for this — you’ll basically be writing 1-2 pages to convince me that you understand the article/subject and can relate it to some of what you learned in this class. This doesn’t need to be formal writing — it can simply be an outline, where you introduce a point and then follow up with bullet points to support/supplement it (kinda like my chapter outlines). That’s more like “business writing,” where we often use bullets to highlight key points for busy colleagues/executives, who might not have time for a deep read, so will want to skim for your main points.