Developing students' abilities to recognize microeconomics in action is one of the goals for this course. Quizzes and multiple choice and short answer exam questions alone are insufficient for this. It is important to gain some practice in seeing how the course material relates to day-to-day media stories. It is also widely recognized that undergraduate students need more practice producing formal written assignments which describe a systematic scholarly analysis of an economic problem. This will be your opportunity.

1.  What topics to write on:

Since the beginning of Fall quarter, I have been collecting short readings with microeconomic content, mostly from the Los Angeles Times. Readings will be divided up between the four teaching assistants so that each article is available to the students of only one TA.

2.  Where to get the readings:

For the first time, this year, we will attempt to make the readings available only from the course Web site. A password will definitely be required in order to access them.  The password will be announced in class as soon as the full set of articles has been finalized. Keep in mind that congestion might limit your ability to access these articles if you wait until the night before the essay is due, so "shop" early.  

3.  How to approach the project:

The essay readings will cover a broad spectrum of economic (as well as non-economic) issues. Your task is to identify and focus upon one microeconomic issue and to do as thorough a job as possible in analyzing it. For example, some portion of the text of the article might make a assertion about what must be done to the price of a commodity to raise more revenue for the seller. You might recognize that the veracity of the assertion depends upon the elasticity of demand for the product, which depends upon the availability of substitutes and other factors. Frequently, your entire essay may be devoted to the analysis of just a few sentences in the reading you choose. Even a very short reading can lead to a challenging essay.

4.  Uncomfortable with the vagueness of the instructions?

Many Economics 1 students seem to have difficulty accepting the fact that the precise essay topic is what you make it. Dozens of very different essays can sometimes be based upon the same reading. Part of the challenge of this assignment is to discern an essay issue that you can analyze with the tools that you acquire in Economics 1. You will not be penalized if you tackle a very difficult problem, but do as well as you can, based on the subject matter of this course.

5.  How to get started on your analysis:

You may wish to begin your analysis with a direct or paraphrased quote from the reading you have chosen. For example: "The author of this article claims that if the price of widgets is reduced, demand for widgets will fall." In other cases, the newspaper article will describe some change in conditions that affect some market or markets, and you will have an opportunity to draw out the likely implications of this event or trend for the future price of the good, revenues of sellers of that good, or for the prices or revenues for substitute or complementary goods.

6.  Submission format requirements:

Essays must be typewritten and double-spaced for legibility, since the TAs will be reading 300+ papers in a very short time period. You may not use 1.5 spacing or a type font that is less than 12 points. (Eyestrain in a TA is never good for your score.) If your first draft is too long, revise your essay to be more succinct. Not including the required cover page, only three (3) pages of writing will be graded. However, you may refer to diagrams provided on attached pages, as long as these are clearly labeled (e.g. Figure 1 - Supply and Demand for Widgets prior to Tax; Figure 2 - Supply and Demand for Widgets after 8% Tax is Imposed, etc.). In the text of your paper, you should refer explicitly to each of the figures you employ in support of your argument.

Your essay should be prepared on reasonable-quality plain white bond paper. It should be stapled once in the upper left-hand corner. DO NOT encase your paper in a plastic cover or any sort of nifty binding. ALL that counts is the quality of your analysis and the legibility of your presentation. NO extra points will be allocated for fancy word-processing or desktop publishing. Figures should be drawn with a fine-point felt pen and labeled clearly so that the entire essay can readily be photocopied. YOU MUST retain a photocopy of your essay.

7.  Editorial assistance and acknowledgements:

If you discussed your analysis with anyone, proper attribution must be made in a footnote to your paper. The sample cover page contains the usual format for such acknowledgements. All good economists recognize the value of having at least one other person read their paper before finalizing it. This practice is strongly recommended. Arrange well in advance of the due date to have a classmate or friend look at your paper prior to your final draft.

8.  Cover page information:

To ensure that the TAs can unambiguously identify which reading you are analyzing, the "title" of your paper should contain the title of the reading you are working with. For example, we recommend the cover page format shown at the end of this outline.

9.  The target audience for your paper:

Your analysis should be pitched towards someone who is familiar with the subject matter of Economics 1. For example, you need not waste valuable space explaining what elasticity is, or outlining why it is that demand curves slope downwards. Make liberal use of whatever economic models (i.e. diagrams) are appropriate to the problem at hand. This helps us determine whether or not you are able to apply these models.

10.  Objectivity:

You should also be objective and dispassionate in your analysis. While you may feel very strongly about a subject, the "normative" issues should be downplayed. Attempt a purely "positive" analysis. Also, we occasionally encounter essay writers who try to throw together a paper at the last minute solely on the information in one of the titles. This strategy is rather transparent. You will need to read at least one article; perhaps more, to make an appropriate choice. Some are harder to translate into microeconomic terms than others. Requiring a direct and specific analysis of one of a well-defined list of recent readings also discourages the use of purchased or recycled essays on similar topics.

11.  Tackling a topic we have not yet covered in lectures:

In some cases, you may find it helpful to read ahead in the textbook. If you tackle a reading that requires analytical techniques that are not covered until the last two weeks of lectures, we will take this into account in judging the challenges of your analysis.

12.  Academic honesty:

A word about academic honesty may be in order. Each binder containing the readings for the essay assignment will also include a sheet provided by UCLA's Dean of Students entitled "Before You Begin that Paper." Please read it carefully.

A prototype cover page: