AP Economics Summer Reading and Writing Assignment
Course Overview: Advance Placement Economics is essentially two college-level courses designed to prepare you to take two AP exams in May. Microeconomics, examines the behaviors of firms and individuals within an economic system and how they interact. The second course, Macroeconomics, examines economy wide phenomena, including, inflation, unemployment, and economic growth. By taking this course and mastering the material you will find yourself more prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century and have success in the global marketplace.
Assignment: Over the summer you will be reading an excellent overview of economics titled Naked Economics: Underdressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelan. This book is easily available on-line or at any local bookstore. It is renowned for its clarity and plain language and will help you get a good introduction to our course with as little pain (and as much pleasure) as possible!
Attached you will find the writing assignment for the summer. You must read the book and answer the following questions and complete a book review for your assignment. It is recommended that you get started early enough to get as much of the reading and writing assignments complete before the start of school. The assignment must be typed and turned in by August 1 to the Main Office at the High School. Please label your paper with your name and AP ECONOMICS SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT
Part One: Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelan
1. Read the book and answer the following questions in complete sentence form, being sure to elaborate on your point with strong analytical and critical-thinking writing skills.
a. Chapter One: What is the first assumption of economics? Why is it so critical to what we do? “Life is not fair”. (JFK) Neither is capitalism. Is it a “good” system? Explain your answer and present both sides of the question.
b. Chapter Two: Why do people kill black rhinos? Be sure to keep your response in terms of incentives. Why are self-interest and incentives important?
c. Chapter Three: What are externalities? China recently decreed that it would tax government employees for NOT smoking. What evidence/reasoning has Wheelan presented in chapter three that might support this effort? (Note: Wheelan does not mention the Chinese government’s decision but still presents a compelling economic argument that may support this decision.) ‘
d. Chapter Four: Why does government struggle to accomplish its goals when compared to the private sector? What examples does Wheelan give and what is the chief reason for government to be terrible at so many things?
e. Chapter Five: Why is it not always irrational to discriminate during hiring practices? Why is information so important to market operations? How has the question of “how much information is too much information” as it relates to the insurance industry created such a dilemma?
f. Chapter Six: Why is Bill Gates richer than you? How do we increase our productivity?
g. Chapter Nine: What is GDP? Why is it important? Which two aspects of GDP do we care about and why? What other indicators do we use to measure the economy? Why do we use so many indicators to measure the economy?
h. Chapter Ten: What is the Fed and why is it so important? Explain the job of the Fed chair as detailed by the author. How does the Fed control interest rates?
i. Chapter Eleven: Why are sweatshops so awesome? What is the comparative advantage of poor countries? Why do some efforts to save American jobs actually hurt the economy?
j. Chapter Twelve: What are the characteristics of “rich” countries?
Part Two:
2. After you have completed the reading and answered the questions, you are to write a 250 to 500 word (1-2 typed pages) book review of Naked Econmics. Divide the review into three parts:
a. The first third is a description of what the reviewer feels was the author’s intent in writing the book. One way or the other, an author has an agenda. Spend this third of the review describing what you discovered about this.
b. The second third of your review should describe how Wheelan went about his task. What type of evidence did he rely on? What were his sources – or does he even let you know? Does he use intelligent evidence to support his claims? Do they help clarify and add to the text, or are they extra padding or just confusing, or poorly introduced? Does he write well? Is he entertained by this subject, or is he just grinding out a book?
c. The last third of your review is critical. It is here that you EVALUATE his success. Did he persuade you? Did he really bore you, anger you, or confuse you? Was it indeed a book that needed to be written, or was it a waste of your time and his? What would you advise other readers of the book? Read it? Check it out but be cautious? Forget about it?