Assignemnt: Article Write-ups

To help you connect what you're learning in class with current events, you are required to find an economics-related news article, read it, and write a short paper connecting your findings to topics we've discussed in class. You should select your article from a reputable source like The Economist, New York Times, or Wall Street Journal (read: not a blog post or obscure website). Students must read the selected piece, summarize the content, relate it to subjects covered in class, and turn in a short (1-2 pages) typed paper with these elements. Please note that this means you need to pick an article substantial enough to write more than one page about it.

Some suggested topics:

Tradeoffs or opportunity costs

Supply & Demand (including input costs, other nonprice determinants)

Substitute & complementary goods

Elasticity

Market efficiency

Behavioral economics (framing, heuristics)

Consumer choice (utility maximization, diminishing marginal utility)

Write-up Requirements:

-Minimum 1 page of text not including header or references (double spaced, 12 point font, standard margins).

-A discussion of how your selected article directly relates to or relies upon a particular economic principle we have covered in class. This should include defining and explaining the concept, in addition to discussing how it is used in your article. (I.e. "This article uses the concept of opportunity costs, which means..." or "This article discusses using sales prices to frame consumer decisions. From behavioral economics we learned that framing is....")

-A summary of the contents that demonstrates you read the article.

-A review and general evaluation based upon what you've learned in class.

-A properly formatted reference for your article (citation style of your choice - APA, MLA, etc.). For online sources please provide a link.

-You must submit your assignment on Moodle as a Word document (.doc or .docx