To be successful in the workforce and as an economist, you need to be able to critically evaluate economic arguments and convey your reasoning to a “general audience writing. The assignments in this class 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 also helps you learn to apply and to view events through the lens of economics. Writing a critical analysis requires the following steps: 1.Translating a written argument into a form that can be analyzed using the tools we haveleamedin class. 2. Using economic tools to critically examine the argument being made. Analysis involves doing more than merely paraphrasing the textbook, class notes or using jargon. It involves the following: a. identifying the appropriate model or tool for the context; b. checking to see if the model’s underlying required assumptions are sufficiently satisfied ;identifying important differences between the model and the real-world context, and identifying how these differences affect qualitative and quantitative predictions. 3.Comparing your analysis with the author’s arguments and articulating any differences or similarities in a precise manner.4.Translating all of this into clear language that readers can easily understand. You are writing for the general reading population. This means you will need to explain your arguments in a way that someone who has some understanding of basic economic concepts, but not detailed knowledge, can understand it. A good guideline. assume a reader who has taken EC0100 a few years ago. She will understand basic EC0101 Micro concepts, but will have certainly forgotten most of the subtleties and many of the implications.
