Economics of Pandemics

Background:

Economists are increasingly required to work in interdisciplinary teams and engage with members of the general public to express their research findings.

In this assessment, your task is to educate a non-specialist audience about the economics of Pandemics (covid-19).

You will translate your advanced academic knowledge of your topic [the economics of Pandemics(covid-19)] into an engaging and educating article that a member of the general public can understand and enjoy. This article could be a magazine article, long-form newspaper op-ed, piece for The Economist, or similar. You can assume your audience cares about money/profit/taxation/etc., but you can’t assume they know how the economy works or the theories that an economist would use to analyze it.

Assignment task:

Write an article for a popular publication to educate a non-specialist audience about an issue, debate, or future prediction pertaining to your stream topic.

Although a publication like a tabloid newspaper may not include sources ‘in real life’, your submission still needs to. At least 7 academic sources are required, and should be referenced properly in the form of a bibliography using a recognized academic style guide such as APA.

A strong submission will take a clear stance and/or pose a clear argument related to some dimension of your stream topic.

Your article should use language appropriate to a non-specialist audience, and include thoughtful rhetorical choices designed to engage and educate them.

Please specify who your intended audience are, including a brief indication of their interests and assumed knowledge. Please also note the publication you are writing for, and anything you would like to specify about style. For example, ‘I am writing for people who are increasingly concerned about how much they pay for their weekly tank of fuel. I am writing for The Daily Telegraph using an accessible tone so that people can quickly absorb my message on a daily commute or similar’. This information should be placed before the heading of your main text to avoid confusion.