Economic 101

Writing Assignment 2 - Spotify Purpose: You will need to be able to critically evaluate economic arguments and convey your reasoning to a general audience in writing. This writing assignment will help you develop these skills. You will need to demonstrate your ability to apply economic concepts and tools to different, more open-ended contexts. This will also help you develop your ability to apply and to view events through the lens of economics. The critical examination involves a few steps. First, translating a written argument into a form that can be analyzed using tools you have learned in class. The next step is to use these tools to critically examine the argument being made. The analysis involves doing more than merely paraphrasing the textbook, class notes, or using jargon. It involves things like identifying which model/tool is appropriate for this context, checking to see if the assumptions required are satisfied, identifying any changes in circumstances, and working through the predictions, etc. You need to be able to compare your analysis with the author's arguments and be able to articulate any differences or similarities in a precise manner. The final step is translating all of this back into clear language that readers can easily understand. Task :There will be two writing assignments in this course to give you practice and opportunities to get feedback on your writing. This is an individual writing assignment. For this writing assignment, you will be given an economic podcast and will be asked to critically evaluate it. You will be graded on the quality and thoroughness of your analysis. Therefore, you will also be graded on the clarity, flow and overall cohesiveness of the writing in your paper Podcast:How Spotify Saved the Music Industry (Links to an external site.) Paper Outline Introduction: The introduction (first paragraph) briefly summarizes what you consider to be the main point(s) of the article. If there are many, focus on the one(s) that you will analyze in the assignment. Summary: A short summary of the article should be included. This summary should capture the key points presented in the article and any important facts or elements. Do not spend the whole assignment summarizing the entire article. Summaries should be succinct and to the point and be approximately one paragraph. Analysis: Your analysis should use economic concepts you have learned in class. In other words, the analysis should focus on how topics covered in class are applicable/relevant to the real world. Be sure to demonstrate your analysis using graphs and/or models learned in class. Be careful to address the appropriate audience. Remember, narrow your focus so that your analysis can be more in-depth. That is much more important than hitting every point made in the article. Critical Evaluation: This is the most important aspect of this assignment Students should focus on whether they agree with what is stated in the article or what their recommendations may be Students can also analyze how the material in the