Fall 2015 Econ 103 Term Paper Policy TA: ZHENG ZHANG

The paper is due on Thursday, November 19, 2015 at the beginning of the section.

Please hand in your paper to me. Do not put it in my mailbox and do not give it to

a different TA. No paper will be accepted after this deadline.

  1. Choosing a Topic

The topic of the paper must be related to Macroeconomic issues covered in Econ

103 this semester (NOTE: this excludes most topics from chapters 1 to 3 of your

textbook, which refer to Microeconomics). Remember that Macroeconomics deals

with the economy as a whole so do not choose a topic restricted to an individual, a

specific firm or sector of the economy.

Pick the topic that you like the most. Some examples are: monetary policy, taxes,

government expenditure, exchange rate, etc. You can talk to me about the adequacy

of the topic that you have chosen, and we can discuss your article. However, I cannot

read the draft of your paper.

  1. The Article

The article you are using must have been published after our first day of classes

(August 24th, 2015). NO ARTICLE published before that will be accepted (the

paper will receive zero points). A copy of the article used must be supplied with

the paper; with the date of publication clearly printed (I cannot accept your paper

without this).

  • Look at reputable news sources (such as theWall Street Journal, The Economist,

New York Times, etc) for articles

  • Look for articles that contain facts (such as the Federal Reserve raised interest

rates). The articles may discuss causes, consequences, etc of these facts. This

will make it much easier for you to do an economic analysis of the topic. You can

then write about what economic theory says about the issue, what happened in

the real world, and how the article handles the topic.

  1. Structure

The paper should have a Cover Page, including: your name, your TA section, the

name of your TA, the title of your paper (the reader should be able to get an idea of

the content by its title), and the title of the newspaper article you are using, including

the date and journal from which you found the article.

Your paper should have 5 more typed pages (no more, no less), and should be divided

into 3 parts as described below. The beginning of each part should be indicated, and

you should leave only one blank line separating two consecutive parts. See example

(from website).

Part I Introduction (One or two pages)

Describe the FACT from your article, and explain why it is a relevant Macro topic.

You should NOT just "copy and paste" the article, but instead, you should summarize

the relevant facts covered by it and the point of view/opinion of its writer (if appli-

cable), using your own words and the technical language (i.e., "economic terms")

learned in class.

Part II Theory Review and Analysis (Two or three pages)

Explain what Macro theory has to say about that FACT reported by the article,

using the tools, definitions and theorems covered in class. For example, if the FACT

is that the Government decreased taxes to fight recession, explain why Macro theory

says its a useful Fiscal Policy under that scenario (review the theory covered in class

needed to understand the FACT).

You should also analyze the FACT and its results/consequences for the economics. If

your article results in a PROBLEM (as described above), explain why theory pre-

diction failed in that case. If you have a POSITIVE example, show that in this case

the theory prediction worked.

Part III Conclusion (One or two pages)

Say what YOU think about it, your personal opinion.

You can say what YOU think the Government should do about it (if it applies to

your article).But always remember to use the tools and theory you learned in class to support your ideas and never make baseless suggestions or statements!

Other Important points:

a) Whenever you first use one technical term in your paper, you must include a short

explanation/definition. For example, if you say the article mentions research that

found that the price elasticity of demand for investment is inelastic, you should give the

definition of elasticity (and what it means to be inelastic).

b) Format: font Times News Romans, size 12, one-and-half or double-space (between

20 and 30 lines per page), maximum margins 1.25 inch. I will not accept papers that

are not typed.

  1. Graphs, Tables, Diagrams and Reference

You can use as many graphs, tables and diagrams as you think its necessary to better

present your paper. Depending on your topic/article, you might not need a graph,

but for some topics a graph might help you a lot when explaining what is happening

in the economy.

All graphs, tables and diagrams must be included at the end of the paper, in an appendix,

and each one should be properly labeled with a number and a title. For example,

Graph 1: Change in the Aggregate Demand, and so on. Do not forget to label the

axis and the important points of your graph.

Again, DO NOT include graphs in your text. If you need to mention a graph, just say

"the curve will shift to the right, as shown in the Graph 1." If they are not referred

to in the text of your paper, then I will not look at them.

The pages in the appendix, with the graphs, will not count in the limit of 5 pages of

your paper; therefore, you can have as many graphs as you need.

Its not easy to do those graphs using a computer; therefore, you don't have to do it

this way. Just draw the graphs yourself.

You are not expected to use other sources besides your article, your course notes and

your textbook. If you decide to use additional sources, you must cite them. Also, if

you take a direct quote from the Macroeconomics textbook you must cite the text-

book and the page from which you took the quote. You may either mention the

source of your information in a footnote or include a Works Cited page (it will not

be counted as one of the 5 pages of your article).

  1. Grading

The paper will be graded on a scale of 10 points and it is worth 15% of your final

course grade. I will look for the following in grading:

You are expected to follow the above guidelines for content as well as formatting.

Grading a paper is a very subjective task, but I will give you a rough idea of how I

will grade it. Every paper starts with 10 points, and it will lose points if, for example:

a) The topic is not an adequate Macro topic (see sections 1 and 2 above);

b) Wrong use of (or did not use when needed) economic definitions/theory;

c) Wrong interpretation (or description) of the newspaper article.

d) Writing, analysis and/or explanation is confusing (obviously, Ill not be grading

grammar or spelling).

e) Paper has more/less than the 5 required pages.

f) Paper is not in the format described in sections 3 and 4 above.

*The paper will automatically receive a 0 if

  • The article was published before August 24nd, 2015;
  • It is given to me after the deadline (start of section on Thursday November 19,

2015);

  • It does not include a copy of the article used; or
  • It is not typed

Your paper might also earn extra points (to compensate points you might have lost

in the cases listed above) if, for example:

  • The Macro topic chosen is very interesting, original and/or hard, and you were

able to handle it well.

  • You used the economic theory exceptionally well to explain the topic in your

paper.

  • You used creativity and extra research in explaining the Macro topic.

I will be looking especially for those 3 points when choosing the papers that I will

indicate to compete for the Best Paper Prize, at the end of the semester.

Remember, grades are not comparable across students (because each student has

different strengths and weaknesses) or with students of other TAs (because each TA

has different grading policies).