Article Analysis: The US labor market

Directions: The goal of the Article Analysis assignments is to encourage students to apply the economic way of thinking to real world events.  Students are required to find and cite a news article or editorial published between the dates of 8/31 and 10/9.  The content of the article must relate to a model studied in class during that same period of time.  Acceptable models include:





Ricardian Trade Model



Supply and Demand



(List of models will be updated as the course progresses)





The article may discuss economic events such as economic shocks, changes in policy, or advocacy for policy in the case of an editorial.  Students must provide a brief summary of the information contained in the article (in the case of a news article) or the economic argument being made by the author (in the case of an editorial).  Students must use a relevant model to make a prediction of the effects of the news in the article or to assess the validity of the economic argument being made by the author of the editorial.  



 



A submission must be a single pdf file that includes the following:



 



i) The name and student ID number of the student (or all students, in the case of collaboration) submitting the assignment.  Students may collaborate on Article Analysis Assignments, and up to three students may submit identical assignments that they collaborated on.  All students must submit their own assignment individually, even when collaborating, but must also include the name of all collaborating students as well.  



 



ii) The title and source of the article being referenced in the assignment, as well as a link to that article.  The following is a list of news/editorial sources that are acceptable for this assignment:  



 



https://apnews(dot)com/



https://www(dot)reuters(dot)com/



https://www(dot)afp(dot)com/en/news-hub



https://www(dot)bloomberg(dot)com/



https://www(dot)npr(dot)org/



https://www(dot)politico(dot)com/



https://www(dot)bbc(dot)com/



https://www(dot)usatoday(dot)com/



https://www(dot)axios(dot)com/



https://thehill(dot)com/



 



These sources were chosen to maximize informational content and minimize political bias based on the media bias chart that can be found at the following link:



https://www(dot)adfontesmedia(dot)com/intro-to-the-media-bias-chart/



 



Although there may be scope for disagreement among us about which sources belong on this list and which do not, what it means to be biased, and so on, the goal of these assignments is not to open a debate about these issues.  Although economics and politics are often intertwined, our individual politics are irrelevant for the purposes of this class.  Our goal is to understand the basic definitions and terminology of economics, the models it uses, and how those models improve our understanding of how the world works.  These goals can and should be accomplished in an environment that is as apolitical as possible.  



 



iii) A summary of the content of the article or the argument being made in the case of an editorial.  This summary should be about one paragraph, no more than 5-6 sentences or 200 words.  



 



iv) A graph corresponding to one of the approved models listed above that applies to the content of the article or the argument being made in an editorial.  Graphs can be handwritten, then scanned and inserted into, for example, a Microsoft Word file that will be later converted into a pdf.  They may also be produced using, again for example, Microsoft Word’s draw function.  Either is acceptable as long as the graph is legible and well-labeled.  



 



v) A brief explanation of the graph, including what sort of prediction the model makes about the effect of the economic event described in the article, or a prediction about the effect of the economic policy being advocated for in an editorial.  This should also be no more than 5-6 sentences or 200 words.