Assignment:
Suggested topics for the Econ 225 research paper: At least one source from a peer-reviewed article in an academic journal is required, plus several non-academic sources. Don't forget to google economics in movies or economics in documentaries if you'd like to write about a movie that is not shown here. Details of the research paper are in the course outline, and a sample paper is in the textbook.
1. Can war be justified morally or economically? Answer this question through specific scenes in the animated movie Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata. You must also provide a clear synopsis of the movie and cite dialogue from relevant scenes.
2. Analyze corruption and economic hardship in ATouchofSin (TianZhuding), directed by Jia Zhangke. Must include some quoted dialogue to support what you say. This movie, nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, is in four parts. You can choose any of the parts.
3. How did big business get Brazil's poor people hooked on junk food? If you're interested in the political economics of food, note the shift in eating habits across the globe that is creating a new type of malnutrition-many people are now both overweight and malnourished.
4. Write about the classic movie TheThirdMan, especially the black market in post-World War II Europe. You will need to provide a clear synopsis of the movieas well as quoted dialogue. Make sure you comment on the Ferris wheel scene and human life as seen from a purely economic perspective.
5. Using the action-adventure movie Okja, directed by Bong Joon ho, analyze the role of big business in the livestock industry and argue that it is unethical to eat meat. Okja is a hippoesque pig. An official selection of the Cannes Film Festival.
6. Write about the documentary Downstream and the effect of corporate pollution on indigenous people in Canada and their way of life.
7. Analyze the ideas of Marilyn Waring in the National Film Board of Canada documentary,MarilynWaring on Sex, Lies and Global Economics.
8. Consumer Choice in wine selection: Do you get what you pay for? An analysis of the correlation between price and quality in wines. Expensive wines are a status symbol and can be modeled as a luxury good. However, some consumers prefer the taste of cheap wine. Are consumers paying for the label on the bottle, not the wine?
9. Agree or disagree that international aid agencies are bringing about positive economic change to some of the world's poorest people. Base your paper on a particular agency and country.
10. Dead artists: An economic analysis that compares the post-mortem music sales of Michael Jackson with the post-mortem sales of Kurt Cobain.
11. Write a cost analysis: How expensive isittoday to be diabetic? (This refers to Type 1 diabetes, not Type 2.) In the last 50 years, diabetes treatment has changed with the introduction of synthetic insulin and the insulin pump. But what about the cost to the patient? Is synthetic insulin an improvement over the original insulin formulas? Include something in your paper about Dr. Frederick Banting and the history of diabetes as a medical condition.
12. Why animals fight: Asymmetries and signalling in animal conflicts.
13. Game theory and the Cold War in the movie Dr. Strangelove.
14. The effect of "chance" in the Kubrick crime movie, The Killing. You will need to describe specific scenes in the movie and the role that chance plays in the turn of events.
15. The themes of greed, food, or the environment in the Hayao Miyazaki movie, Spirited Away. You can write about one of these themes, or two, or three.
16. If everyone stops smoking cigarettes, will that reduce the cost of public health care? Why?
17. The environment as depicted in the animated fantasy Princess Mononoke.
18. The economics behind business ethics-does ethical behavior affect a company's ability to compete in the market? Write about Patagonia, Everlane, Dell, or Illy.
19. The impact of unsafe water and sanitation facilities in Burkina Faso or anywhere else.
20. The impact of The Great Depression on ordinary people as evidenced in chapters 21 and 22 of Steinbeck's classic novelThe Grapes of Wrath.
21. The failure of the free market in WallStreet, the 1987 movie.
22. An analysis of price discrimination in cinemas or the concert industry.
23. Resource economics and business ethics in Erin Brockovich.
24. Examples of conspicuous consumption in the movie FightClub, as seen through Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899).
25. The fractional reserve banking system in the movie It's a Wonderful Life. Must include a clearsynopsis of the movie as well as quoted dialogue.
26. The relationship between social-economic classes in the Kubrick war movie, Paths of Glory. Must include a clear synopsis of the movie as well as quoted dialogue.
27. The role of chance in Cormac McCarthy's novel (or movie) No Country for Old Men. Must include a clear synopsis of the movie as well as quoted dialogue. Must also explain the origin of the title, and why the book (or movie) is called no country for old men.
28. An economic argument for the introduction of ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft in British Columbia. Must include a counter argument.
29. An analysis of the economic cost to the publicof online romance scams ordysfunctional dating sites.
30. An analysis of the economics behind President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign.
31. Karl Marx was a brilliant German thinker and economist whose theories on workers' rights and the dangers of capitalism remain the ideological foundation of China as well as other socialist nations in the world. President Xi Jinpingis holding high-profile events to mark the 200th anniversary of Marx's birth. AreChina's bold economic successesto be viewed as stemming from Marxist ideas rather than capitalist ones?
32. The relationship between wealth and happiness in the Disney animated classic Cinderella.
33. An analysis of accountability and trust in the Disney classic Pinocchio.
34. An analysis of the relationship between economics and human life in the Ridley Scott horror movie Alien (1979). Must explain why the commercial mining ship that figures in the film is called Nostromo.
35. The war economy in George Orwell's 1984.
36. An analysis of "Big Tobacco" in the movie TheInsider, starring Russell Crowe and Al Pacino.
37. Free market policies and the International Monetary Fund in the documentary South of the Border.
38. An analysis of reality and happiness in The Matrix.
39. Downsizing in the movieUp in the Air.
40. The economics of happiness: What, according to economists, is happiness? Do you agree?
41. Climate change: Agree or disagree with the physicist Stephen Hawking that we are beyond the point of no return on the critical problem of climate, and that nations must start preparing to colonize other planets.
42. Write about greed in DoubleIndemnity. This is a classic filmnoir that revolves around the insurance industry, a murder, and two lovers. You will need to define the insurance term "double indemnity" and provide a short synopsis of the movie.
43. The role of the family as human capital in the first Godfather movie.
44. The economic role of marriage in Jane Austen's novels.
Attachment:- Primary Source Summary.rar