1 ECN130 Writing Assignment 2, 2021/22 Instructions Coursework must be submitted online through Turnitin on Blackboard, no later than 12:00 (noon) on Thursday, 28 April 2022 (week 9). The price of oil, and other fuels, has fluctuated dramatically over the last three years. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate (one of the benchmarks for international oil prices) dropped below $20 USD a barrel in 2020, and is now approaching $100 USD a barrel. This has consequences for many parts of our lives including home heating and electricity, travel, and manufacturing. Write an essay that describes how large changes in the price of oil affects one part of the UK’s economy (or another country of your choosing). Your essay should use one of the concepts covered in the ECN130 lectures (either micro or macro) to aid your argument. To help with this, examples of topics include (but are not limited to): 1. Household budgets and heating costs. 2. The market for air travel. 3. Research and development into alternative forms of non-fossil fuel energy generation. 4. Our use of cars. 5. The macro economy: aggregate demand and aggregate supply. Do not try to give the definitive work on a topic. Answer a very specific question (e.g. “Will higher oil prices hurt the recovery of the airline industry in the UK ”; “Will some businesses benefit from higher oil prices while others are hurt ”). Your essay should demonstrate the use of a concept covered in ECN130 lectures. I recommend that you focus your argument on one ECN130 concept, do not try to demonstrate several concepts. The concept can come from Micro (elasticity, labour markets, productivity, markets for other goods), or Macro (aggregate demand, aggregate supply, taxes and debt, monetary policy, trade). Your essay should be a maximum of 750 words in length, and include at least one supporting reference with a bibliography (using the Harvard referencing style). The bibliography and citations will not be included in the word count. Further, words from any tables, diagrams or equations used to aid in your argument will not be included in the word count. References should come from reputable publications and sources. At the end of this document there are some suggestions to help you get started. Students are encouraged to pair-up to assist in proofreading and editing each other’s work. However, it is highly recommended that student pairs address different topics. This will mitigate the possibility of unintentional plagiarism. ECN130 Economic Analysis and Policy 2 Submission Coursework must be submitted electronically through Blackboard using the Turnitin Feedback Studio. You must use the coversheet available in the Turnitin Feedback Studio—entitled “ECN Turnitin Submission Template.docx”. Failure to use this coversheet will incur a 5 percentage point deduction of your coursework mark, which will be applied before any late penalties have been imposed. The coversheet includes a space to copy and paste your essay. After you copy and paste your essay, please make sure that you are happy with the formatting (some changes may happen automatically). You must use an Arial 12 point font, double-spacing, and have a minimum of 2cm margins all around. Unauthorised late submissions after 12:00 (noon) on the day of the deadline will incur a penalty of 5 percentage points. An additional 5 percentage point penalty will be added after 24 hours from 12:00 (noon) on the day of the deadline and then at 24 hour intervals, up to 5 working days late. After that, a mark of zero will be awarded. Assessment Writing Assignment 2 will make up 15% of your overall module mark. Examples of assignments from previous years are provided on Blackboard. Students are encouraged to look at the Face-to-face lecture slides for Week 4 (in Week 4, Semester 1 content folder on Blackboard) for tips regarding structure and clarity. There are no correct or incorrect answers for this essay. You will be judged on the strength of your written argument. Marks will be given according to the following criteria: Structure Ease at which key information can be found. Correct use of citation (including the quality of citation). 10% 15% Clarity Grammar and spelling. Demonstrate efficient communication (including word limit). 10% 10% Demonstrate the use of an ECN130 concept Novelty of topic and argument 25% 15% Overall strength of argument (the X factor). 15% ECN130 Economic Analysis and Policy 3 SUGGESTED RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH Below are a few sources to help get you started in your research. I recommend looking at website articles that offer summaries of this research. For example: The Economics Observatory: https://www.economicsobservatory.com/ Vox: https://voxeu.org/ The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/uk Any reputable news source including The Economist, The Financial Times, The Guardian, New York Times, etc.
