You must use a different topic than the topic you used for Written Homework #2. In the
heading of your paper, list your previous topic used for Written Homework #2 (and use a
different topic for this paper).
This papershould be short — only two to three single-spaced pages (not including graphs or
references) — but it needs to be clear and complete. This assignment is supposed to be easy.
Its purpose is to convince you that you are now a skilled economist who can use the tools
we’ve learned to analyze a new question.
Your paper should have three main sections:
1. A description of an economic event:
a. Find three or more articles of your choice that describe an event that you will
analyze. You may use newspaper articles, the short papers on bCourses in the
Files -> E_Readings folder, or other reliable sources (that is, not an
undocumented webpage). The textbook/lecture slides will not count toward
the 3 sources.
b. Briefly summarize the main information in the articles (similar to the
Applications in the textbook). Describe the topic you’d like to discuss in this
paper in detail and why you think this is an important issue to investigate.
c. Cite your sources in a Works Cited at the end of the paper. We expect at least
3 credible sources. The textbook/lecture slides will not count toward the 3
sources.
d. In the text, reference these sources: e.g., (Friedman, 2013, p. 7).
2. Positive economic analysis:
a. Provide at least 2 different mathematical or graphical analyses of your topic
that closely resemble topics covered in class. You may make your own graphs
or cite existing graphs, but the connection between your topic and the
concepts from class should be clear.
b. For each mathematical/graphical analysis, list the textbook page/lecture
slide/MyLab problem/section problem that your mathematical or graphical
analysis is an application of.
c. For each mathematical/graphical analysis, discuss the
interpretation/application of your math/graph in words.
The purpose of this section is to use graphs or math to analyze how this event affects a
market, a typical consumer’s choice, or another topic. Be sure to fully label any figure and
discuss your analysis (perhaps what happened or is predicted to happen) in words, providing
the economic intuition behind each figure. You may, of course, also include tables of data,
plots, or anything else that will help you illustrate your analysis, but these will not count
toward the two examples you need that directly relate to the course. Your discussion may
benefit from a welfare analysis. If an article mentions numbers (a price rose from $x to $y,
the quantity increased by 10%, …), you may show these numbers in your figure. In short, do
the sort of analysis that we have done many times in class.