During the course, you are required to complete a formal written assignment highlighting published current economic events or issues and explain how they relate to theories learned in this course. The paper provides you an opportunity to realize, reflect, and explain the economics that exist all around us. The paper must include a graph used as an explanatory tool of the economic principle presented.

Early submissions of written assignments are always accepted, but use the links provided in the respective modules to submit your topic, draft, and final paper. Make use of the feedback you receive on your draft paper to improve your final paper before submitting it in Module 9.

Instructions for preparing this assignment are as follows:

Each paper is to be an analysis on the recent economic events or economic reports from the supplemental resources or references. The focus of this assignment is to relate and analyze current events to basic principles of microeconomics covered in this course. It is not acceptable to just regurgitate statistics. The paper should indicate that you have a clear understanding of theory learned in class and its application/operation in the ‘outside world.’
Option – IF you come upon an interesting subject relating to your work or any other non-economic publication that can be explained in light of the theories learned in this class, you may be able to substitute this as the basis article. Discuss the article and ideas with your instructor prior to embarking on this option.
Use standard file format (.doc or .docx) for all deliverables (topic, draft, and final paper). Standard margins apply. Papers should contain proper documentation of the article(s) or other references used. If direct quotes are used (not contained in the article), appropriate footnotes, endnotes, or parenthetical citations must accompany the quotes. Since a part of your paper will come from published sources, Internet references, etc., there should be sufficient evidence of where the information for your paper originated. Paper length should be a few pages – short enough to qualify as a commentary but long enough to adequately address the subject. Typically, six to eight double spaced pages are sufficient. Papers are graded on quality of content, not quantity. Standard APA style rules apply and clarity is important to your grade.

Your topic summary and proposed outline of your idea for the paper is due in Module 3, a draft of the paper is
due in Module 6, and the final paper is due in Module 9. Here is a checklist that you may find helpful.
The objective of the assignment is to demonstrate the application of microeconomic theory as•
presented in Arnold to a current topic you have chosen. It is the application of the theory that is
important; this is not just a research paper which describes a current situation with some economic
features.
The selected topic must be one that relates to microeconomics; that is, any of the subjects listed in the•
Arnold table of contents under microeconomics, for example, market failure. Macroeconomic topics
and analysis are not acceptable for a micro class.
The paper should not be long. Provide enough information and detail on your chosen topic to serve as•
the basis for economic analysis. The topic must be relatively current; an analysis of some past event is
not acceptable.
Show how the theory you’ve learned from the course and presented in Arnold applies to or explains the•
current situation. The analysis need not be complex, but must include a written explanation and a
graphical analysis similar to those used throughout Arnold. Basically, you are just selecting the
appropriate tools from Arnold and showing how they apply to a specific situation.
Write a short conclusion. This might include some predictions for the future.•
The paper should include the following:
Title page•
Insert page numbers. A Running Head is fine but not necessary.•
Abstract – not required but OK if desired•
Table of Contents – not required•
Section Headings – strongly encouraged•
Citations – cite all references in the body of the text and in the Reference list.•
Plagiarism – Do not copy text from another author or Web source unless it is quoted.•
Appendices – Not necessary but may be appropriate for raw data.•