Prompt
- You are to select a recent (three months of age or less) news article and write a post that relates the contents of the article to concepts from Chapter 4 and analyzes the article using an economic perspective
For example, there are many concepts from class that can be linked to the USA Today article "Vanilla Shortage Threatens the Price of Desserts." The poor harvest mentioned in the article can be interpreted as a decrease in supply. From our discussions of supply and demand, you know that a decrease in supply in the vanilla market leads to an increase in the equilibrium price of vanilla. Furthermore, vanilla is an input, or ingredient, for ice cream and many desserts. If the price of an input rises, supply decreases in the ice cream markets and ice cream prices rise.
The article you select does not have to contain explicit economic terms. For example, you might use the supply and demand model to predict that the Chicago Cubs World Series victory will lead to increase in future ticket prices due to an increase in demand. Might other markets be impacted as well? Officially licensed apparel? Food vendors? Parking fees? Expand on the information in the article to make economically sound hypotheses.
These are limited examples. Find an article that interests you!
Response Parameters
- The focus of the post should be an analysis that demonstrates your full understanding of concepts learned in this chapter. The post is not to be a summary of the article or restatement of the textbook/lecture notes. Posts that are submitted that are summaries, without any element of analysis or information beyond the content of the article, will receive an unsatisfactory grade
- A note on article selection: Do not select an article based on how "economic" the title sounds. Avoid three-page articles, but be sure to pick an article that has enough content for an analysis of correct length. It is preferred that you use an "official" news source and not an informal source such as a blog. Provide a link to your article at the end of your post