20050408: Economics 113 Final Paper Assignment
Economics 113—Spring 2005—Final Paper AssignmentDue Wednesday, May 18, Evans 601, 4 PM
2500 words (approximately 10 pages). Answer one of the following four questions, explicitly using and citing to concepts and readings covered in this course:
1. America has had only one Great Depression. Should we fear a repeat of that horrible experience? Did in the past—those living on the eve of and before the Great Depression—have any good reason to fear that such a thing would happen?
2. The United States today is still the world’s most productive and technologically dynamic economy. What, in your view, are the principle factors that have made the U.S. such an economic growth success over the past two centuries?
3. The United States has an image of itself as a land of equality of opportunity. How has the culture, the sociology, and the politics of America lived up to and not lived up to this self-image over the past two centuries?
4. If you were in charge of teaching this course next year, and had a free hand to redesign it, what would you do? What sections would you elevate and stress? What topics would you demote or eliminate? And why?
