Assignment
Overview: The focus of the current event analysis is on real-world application of the tools and theories you study in this course. Staying current with economic news is necessary to staying current with the world around you. This assignment is intended to not only reinforce the breadth and depth of economics as a discipline, but to also allow students to demonstrate their ability to critically evaluate an economic event using the theory presented throughout this course.
Instructions: For this assignment find a news article, on-line, and prepare a 1 to 2-page written analysis (not summary) of the article. Your article should provide an opportunity to examine microeconomic issues. Please include a link to your article with your analysis so that I may read the article as well.
An analysis should include your interpretation of the article, discuss how you arrived at that interpretation, and also evaluate the viewpoint of the article's author and the context within which you (and they) are presenting your (their) position.
Your article analysis should:
• Be typed
• Include an introductory paragraph that introduces the ideas presented in the article as well as the economic theory you will discuss. Include a conclusion summarizing your analysis
• Discuss the strengths and limitations of the quantitative and/or qualitative evidence presented (I encourage you to consider both the evidence/data presented in your article as well as the evidence/data discussed throughout the course that may relate to your chosen article)
• Consider competing ideas/alternative views.
• Demonstrate your ability to explain the microeconomic relationships between the issues presented
• Be understandable to non-economists
Possible Article Sources: Web sites to check out:
• 24-hour news organizations such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, etc.
• Major newspapers such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Oregonian, and the Herald and News (if you're local).
• Weekly news magazines such as Time, BusinessWeek, NewsWeek, The Economist, U.S. News & World Report, etc.