Assignment:
Resources, Scarcity, and Economics and the Interaction of Supply and Demand
The module begins with the economic history so that you can see how economic institutions and economic policies have changed over time. In order to understand today's economic issues, we need to know: Why do we have our current economic institutions? What policies have been tried in the past? What worked? What didn't?
Many of the terms should be familiar to you, such as scarcity, production, and full employment. You may wonder why economists bother to differentiate production resources into these seemingly obvious categories. One important task for economists is to determine which of these resources is most scarce so that production bottlenecks can be altered. Which resource is scarcest in your home?
Everyone has a political bias whether one is aware of it or not. Are Smith, Keynes, and Marx conservative, liberal, or radical on economic issues?
Many activities in our economy are regulated by markets, but that supply and demand and analysis cannot be used for non-market activities. When applying supply and demand analysis to the real world, it is important to recognize that several markets may be operating simultaneously. For example, college includes a market in which students pay tuition, a market for textbooks, a several labor markets for the staff, and so on. When applying demand and supply, clearly state the market and then ask the following: Which good or service is being bought and sold? Who are the suppliers? Who are the demanders? Within one institution such as a college there will be several markets.
Current Event
Directions: Select a current event that pertains to the current learning in the classroom. The current event can come from any reliable resource including the local television news, CNN, MSN, New York Times, newspapers, Excelsior library, etc.
When completing this assignment, you will want to include the following:
1. Brief reaction to the article/work (article should relate to the current course learning)
2. Explain why you feel this article pertains to class
3. Summary of the article/work: Summarize the importance of the topic vs. our class learning
4. Bibliographical entry - Follow APA format for both the current event and case study
Work will be double spaced, two-three pages in length and follow the format listed below:
1. Summary: A brief description of the premise of the article.
2. Background: What was the basis for the article? What caused the author to write the article?
3. Findings: What were the results/findings the article made?
4. Reaction to the article: What did you think?
The current event assignment must be typed, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins and 12-point type following APA format. A title page and reference page are mandatory.
Note: You may utilize LIRN to help you locate an article. Please visit the Academic Resource Center for guidelines on using LIRN and APA format.