Category: Economics

Any topic (writer’s choice)

As some of you have asked how to approach your first, individual, essay, here are some  instructions:
To narrow down the topics a bit I propose that you write your essay on one of the following two topics:
– Price discrimination and market power
– Collusion (we’ll start covering this topic this week)

Beyond this there are no ‘precise’ instructions as to how you should write the assignment, apart from the fact that:
* It needs to be written in a logical way (introduction, main body and conclusion + references).
* It needs to be clearly written!
* It should not be too long! Should be between 2 and 5 pages and  written in word (or another text editor).

* You should link one of the two themes announced above and link it with a real market that is also course relevant (e.g. the second hand market for blue Belgian vintage inter-bellum stamps will probably may not fit the bill (but you could be surprised)  while the market for four wheel drive agricultural tractors in the US may be more relevant…). Whenever you look at a particular market remember that the government may also have its say (either as a regulator or as an antitrust authority). Is this relevant in the case of collusion? In the case of price discrimination?
* Remember that you can (and should) find info in (quality) newspaper/magazine articles (Economist, NYT, WSJ,…), antitrust decisions, and/or policy reports.

* The market situation you describe and analyze (you should do both!) can be historical (e.g. If you describe collusion in the milk market in Caracas, Venezuela from 1908 to 1913 is fine for me as long as you have reliable sources!

* These instructions should allow you to write your essay
* Make sure to have your essay read by some of your friends or family members. They will tell you whether what you write is coherent and interesting.
* Don’t be afraid to let your imagination on the loose & think out of the box!

Article review about the Innovation of Augmented Reality over the years

https://towardsdatascience.com/augmented-reality-ar-trends-the-past-present-future-predictions-for-2019-8e1148345304
This is the article you will be writing about, please try using economic terms in the paper if possible.
Here is my instructors message:
I would like you to pick up a news article or report that is related to science, innovation or intellectual property rights, and write an analysis on that article or report. The point of the term paper is to get you to apply the materials and knowledge we have discussed in class thus far to realistic cases. From reading your term paper, I would like to feel like you have gotten something out of the course.

I’ve uploaded some of the relevant course material which you can refer to while writing the paper.

Sonnys Blues

Everyday Use by Alice Walker

Assignment: Following the guidelines below, write four paragraphs in response to Sonnys Blues. Each paragraph will be worth 20 points; formatting and proper citation will be worth another 20 points.

You will need to include quotations from the story in at least two of your four paragraphs. The quotations from the story should include proper parenthetical citations in MLA style, and an MLA style Works Cited page.

Each paper should include exactly four paragraphs, including the following
1) Summarize the story in one well-developed paragraph. The summary should include all of the major plot points, but avoid minor details that are insignificant to the plot.
2) Analyze at least one literary element at work in the story. In analyzing the element(s), you should discuss how the element is used and why it is significant. The literary elements were discussed in class. I have also included a list below. (This would be a good place for one of your quotations.)
3) Interpret the theme of the story. Figure out the meaning of the story beneath the surface level you summarized for paragraph one. Your articulation of the theme should be more than a word. It should be a statement that captures the works main idea and its universal importance. (See further explanation of theme below in the list of literary elements.)
4) Synthesize (compare) the story with at least one other work of literature, movie, song, TV show, play, etc. Make connections between the pieces. You must compare the story with something specific that was made by someone else; anecdotes or personal reflections are not acceptable for this requirement.
Everything in this paper should reflect your own ORIGINAL thoughts and voice. No research on the Internet or in the library should be used.
Bring three typed copies of your full draft on Saturday 04, for peer review workshop. The final paper must be submitted via Canvas by

Review of Literary Elements
PLOT: The important events that make up a story.
SETTING: Stories actually have two types of setting:  Physical and Chronological.

The physical setting is of course where the story takes place.  The where can be very generala small farming community, for exampleor very specifica two story white frame house at 739 Hill Street in Scott City, Missouri.

Likewise, the chronological setting, the when, can be equally general or specific.
CHARACTER: What type of individuals are the main characters?  Brave, cowardly, bored, obnoxious?  If you tell me that the protagonist (main character) is brave, you should be able to tell where in the story you got that perception.
In literature, as in real life, we can evaluate character three ways:  what the individual says, what the individual does, and what others say about him or her.

SYMBOL: Simply put, a symbol is something which means something else.  Frequently its a tangible physical thing which symbolizes something intangible.  The Seven/Eleven stores understood that a few years ago when they were selling roses with a sign saying, A Rose Means I Love You. This element also includes figurative language such as metaphor, simile, and personification.

POINT OF VIEW: Point of View is the narrative point of view, how the story is toldmore specifically, who tells it. There are two distinctly different types of point of view: First Person and Third Person.
In the First Person point of view, the story is told by a character within the story, a character using the first person pronoun, I.
If the narrator is the main character, the point of view is first person protagonist. If the narrator is a secondary character, the point of view is first person observer. 
In the Third Person point of view, the story is not told by a character but by an invisible author, using the third person pronoun (he, she, or it) to tell the story.

THEME: Theme isnt so much an element of fiction as much as the result of the entire story.  The theme is the main idea the writer of the story wants the reader to understand and remember.

You may have used the word Moral in discussing theme; but its not a good synonym because moral implies a positive meaning or idea.  And not all themes are positive.

One wordlove, for examplemay be a topic; but it cannot be a theme.

A theme is a statement about a topic.

For example: The theme of a story may be that love is the most important thing in the world.  Thats a clich, of course, but it is also a theme.

Any topic (writer’s choice)

Pros and Cons of the US Airways and American Airlines Merger
In the past two decades, nine major airlines consolidated into four mega-airlines: Delta, American Airlines, Southwest, and United Airlines. A later merger was the $11 billion union of American Airlines and US Airways that was finalized on October 17, 2015. Initially, the merger was challenged based on antitrust laws, but it was later allowed after an agreement was reached between the government and the airline.
Use the Articles attached about US AirwaysAmerican Airlines merger, then write a paper addressing the following aspects of the topic:
Briefly address the company profiles of US Airways and American Airlines before the merger (e.g., company mission, number of employees, head office personnel, flights per day, number of countries served, as well as any other relevant information).
Describe factors that led to the proposal of the merger.
Briefly discuss pros and cons of the merger (effect on the industry, effect on consumers) based on the following:
market concentration,
competition,
economies of scale,
ticket price,
frequent flyer,
Department of Justice decision to allow the merger, and
your own viewpoint on the merger. (Was it a good decision to allow it, or not?) Support your response.
List and briefly explain different types of risk that might arise in a merger.
How will this merger impact market power for the airlines involved, as well as for the remaining airlines?
Your paper must be a minimum of four pages in length, not including the cover and reference pages. A minimum of three outside sources must be used (other than the textbook). When writing your paper, follow APA style guidelines; any sources used, including the textbook, must be cited and referenced.

Black Capitalism: Black Businesses Impact on the Black Community

Topic:
Black Capitalism: Black Businesses Impact on the Black Community

Thesis:
In this essay we discuss Black Businesses impact on the Black Community, and how it helps improve black children development and career readiness, closes the racial wealth gap,  strengthens local economies, fosters job creation, and celebrates black culture and serves communities.

Body:
Explain How Black Businesses can Help Improve the Black Community

Although there may be few black owned businesses; I would like for you to include black owned churches, banks, health facilities, real estate companies, Law firms, industrial work, entertainment centers, stores etc. and expand on their impact on the community.

Also expand on how the important black moguls like Jay-Z, Diddy, and Nipsey Hussle help improve their community.

10 or more sources

Black Capitalism: Black BusinessesImpact on the Black Community

Topic:
Black Capitalism: Black Businesses Impact on the Black Community

Thesis:
In this essay we discuss Black Businesses impact on the Black Community, and how it helps improve black children development and career readiness, closes the racial wealth gap,  strengthens local economies, fosters job creation, and celebrates black culture and serves communities.

Body:
Explain How Black Businesses can Help Improve the Black Community

Although there may be few black owned businesses; I would like for you to include black owned churches, banks, health facilities, real estate companies, Law firms, industrial work, entertainment centers, stores etc. and expand on their impact on the community.

Also expand on how the important black moguls like Jay-Z, Diddy, and Nipsey Hussle help improve their community.

kk

The Great Depression of 1929-1941 presented the US government with macroeconomic challenges of unprecedented scale. Gordons Chapter 8 includes a case study that describes the Great Depression. The chapter also includes explanation of the Classical economists view of the self-correcting economy, and John Maynard Keynes critique of that theory and his prescriptions for addressing the macroeconomic challenges of the Great Depression.

In a 2 to 3-page essay, please describe the causes of the Great Depression, and the macroeconomic policy responses employed by the US government. Please address the following specifically:

1. Summarize the causes of the Depression.

2. Explain the US fiscal and monetary policy responses to the Depression.

3. Explain why the Depression lasted more than a decade.

4. If you think that the US government should have reacted differently to the situation, describe what you think should have been done.

In addition to the text, please read at least two of the following, and use the readings to inform your work.

https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/GreatDepression.html

https://eml.berkeley.edu/~cromer/Reprints/great_depression.pdf

https://fee.org/articles/the-great-depression/

economic decade 2000-2010

For Milestone One, you will research three sections of your final project as they relate to the 10-year historical period that you chose in Module One: gross domestic product, unemployment/inflation, and interest rate fluctuations. You will then create your first 46 presentation slides. Be sure to read the Milestone One Guidelines and Rubric to ensure you are covering the critical elements Milestone Two, you will research government fiscal policies as they relate to the 10-year historical period that you chose in Module One, and present the information in 35 new slides for your presentation. Be sure to read the Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric to ensure you are covering the critical elements of this assignment.nts of this assignment.

Gender/Racial Differences in Treatment (Discrimination)

The reports should be at least 3 pages double-spaced, and include 2 parts:

1)    Applications
Provide examples of how the materials learned in class are applied in the real world. This could be a personal example of how the theories could be used in your everyday life, a connection to current issues, or a discussion of a related news article (such as from the Economist or the New York Times). It can be various applications of the same or different materials under the topic. Please provide details as to how the applications utilize the theories learned in class. They should be applications that have not already been given as examples in class.

Each group member should have at least one application, and each person responsible for the application should be identified in the report.

2)    Extended Knowledge
Identify question(s) that your group is curious about after learning the materials and would like to find answer(s). Then use economics search databases to find academic articles (published in academic journals) that try to answer your question(s), and briefly summarize the findings. They should be questions that have not already been given answers to in class.

Preferably the articles you find are a literature review type of article that summarizes existing research on the question and is published more recently (in the past few years). Each group member should find at least one article to summarize, and each person responsible for the article should be identified in the report.

Recommended databases to look for economics academic articles:
    https://scholar.google.com/
Recommended search engine to look for economics news articles:
        https://www.aeaweb.org/rfe/

Below are suggestions of what you can think about. You are by no means constrained by the suggestions provided here. Be creative and surprise me!

Topic 4: Gender/Racial Differences in Treatment (Discrimination)
For Example:
    Applications
o    Personal experience of discrimination, and analyze if it was taste discrimination or statistical discrimination. 
o    Provide real-life examples of statistical discrimination, and explain why it is statistical discrimination.
o    Provide real-life examples of how employer taste discrimination is eliminated by competition.
o    Find news articles on discrimination cases, and analyze if they are taste discrimination or statistical discrimination.
      Extended Knowledge
o    Find a recent research that shows the results of Oaxaca Decomposition on gender wage gap, or racial wage gap.
o    Find a research that tries to distinguish between taste discrimination and statistical discrimination.

Any topic (writer’s choice)

find 4 pictures which compare the gender wage inequality between USA and Canada. Write an 40-50 words explanation for each of the picture. These picture can be charts, diagrams, graphs of the statistics, examples of pictures please see attachment. Be sure to have the references or sources of the pictures.