Economic term paper
The remaining 30% of your grade will come from a term paper. You must choose an argumentative statement, preferably one sentence long. The statement is one that could either be shown to be more likely to be correct or incorrect, depending on assumptions and evidence – e.g., “Wright State University should have a football team,” “Globalization is good for the people of the world and should be encouraged,” “Americans should have guaranteed paid medical leave,” etc. You can also phrase it in a way indicating you don’t know the answer yet, e.g. “I seek to explore/test whether the government provides enough welfare/assistance for the poor” (or “too much”!). (You are not allowed to choose any of the above statements.) The possibilities are limitless, and the assignment is chosen to give you flexibility; the only requirements are that it be argumentative, and that it use economics. I must approve your one-sentence topic in advance, after you have submitted it to me in writing. The sooner you hand it in to me and I approve it, the sooner you can get started. A useful opportunity to hand your proposed topic in is on the day of the first midterm, although that is not required.
Once you have a topic, you should use economic principles discussed in class to assess the thesis statement you have chosen. A good paper takes the thesis and analyzes whether it is true or false by coming up with some criteria to evaluate the statement, amassing evidence, and making use of economics. Note that “amassing evidence” involves research, and you are expected to conduct it. You may turn in as many rough drafts as you like. If you turn in more than one, please turn in previous versions when you turn in the next one, and always turn in all rough drafts with the final version. 60% of the grade on the paper comes from your reasoning and economics, 30% comes from your English usage – grammar, spelling, word choice, etc. – and 10% comes from the adequacy of research. The paper is due on the last day of class, Tuesday, April 16,
