The goals for this assignment are to do some more background reading about a macro issue, and begin to connect that issue with macro policy debates. The macro issues we'll be pursuing for this (and subsequent) assignments should be in one of the following three broad areas: 1) job markets, employment, and wages; 2) government finances (including fiscal policy choices, deficits, and the national debt); and 3) inequality in the distribution of incomes and wealth.

Step one is to do some more reading about whichever area you've selected. You may draw your reading from the articles I've put up on Moodle (for the current term or from a previous term's list), or other recent and reliable sources you research on your own. You should have at least three articles as resources for this assignment. For each, identify whether it's positive or normative, and assess the author for credibility and bias; include those judgments in your writing. You may want to refer to Turnitin's rubric for evaluating sources for help with this part.

Based on your reading, write an essay around two main ideas. First, what did you learn about your interest area from the readings? For this part, you might consider useful facts, descriptions of macro causal connections, policy ideas, or something else. Don't just parrot back a summary of what you read; synthesize what you learned from all the readings into a coherent whole. Second, what are the policy implications of what you've learned?

How does this information fit into your understanding of the economy's long-run or short-run performance?

Does your reading suggest that policymakers should be continuing something they are already doing, or pursuing different policies; be specific here?

What connections can you draw between the issue you are examining and the macroeconomic theories you've learned?