Assignment

We have introduced some of the basics ideas of economics, including opportunity costs, factors of production, production possibilities, and macroeconomic measures. We have also learned about the basic economies of many areas of the world. Your assignment is to discuss the economy of a specific country (see chart below for assigned country) in a descriptive paper. You are to address the basic characteristics of the factors of production in your country, as well as some of the main issues currently affecting that country. In particular:

• Identify where your selected country is located; At the end of the paper (not part of the text), provide a map that shows the region with the country highlighted (for example, a map of Africa with the country of Kenya highlighted);

• Identify the main economic characteristics of your assigned area and country, focusing on labor force, what the businesses seem to export/import the most, how much they produce, and their land resource. Provide specific details.

• Identify and discuss major economic elements of the country, focusing on whether the economy is growing (expansion) or suffering from slower growth and any major financial difficulties in the country;

• Briefly discuss some of the major issues facing the country at the current time, giving your thoughts on how those issues are related to the resources of the country. For example, if your country has a lot of coal resources, it is entirely possible that one of its current issues has to do with environmental pollution. If your country is experiencing health issues like AIDS or high levels of infant deaths, this might impact the labor market in that country because there might not be a young, healthy workforce.

The assignment is to be 2-3 pages in length. It is to be typed double-spaced, with one-inch margins. Indent each paragraph; do not put extra spaces between paragraphs. You should provide a cover page with student's name, class, date, and title of the paper (not counted as part of the page limit). Remember pages are to be stapled, or two points will be deducted.

Sources

You must use at least three sources. An excellent source is the CIA World Factbook (http://cia.gov). Other acceptable sources are books, major news magazines (Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Economist, Time, or BusinessWeek) or journal articles. You may not use encyclopedias, Wikipedia, or any website information, except for CIA World Factbook or official government sites from your selected countries.

All references must be cited within the text using the MLA style, with a references cited section at the end. If you use a direct quote, you must use quotation marks and cite the source within parentheses. If you paraphrase a source, provide the source within parentheses at the end of the paragraph or after the relevant part of the paragraph.

Need helping citing sources? There are many tutorials and guides, including the

Paraphrasing or Quoting?

Any time you directly quote from a source, you MUST use quotation marks and cite the source within the text, and at the end of the paper. If you paraphrase a source (summarize an author's main point), you must give the author credit. Paraphrasing is more than just changing one or two words around - it is putting the author's ideas into your own words. However, you must give credit to the author for the original idea. Remember: plagiarism could result in failure of the course.