new ASSIGNMENT

ASSIGNMENT PROMPT FOR

SECOND MAIN STUDY REPORT

     Please follow the directions to the prompt questions.  Creative thinking is 

encouraged as long as you are thoroughly covering the core questions.  Use your 

understanding of economic thinking and economic behavior.  This paper should be 

approximately a 10-16 page typed work.  My personal preference is for 1.15-paced lines 

in a 12-font, with 1-inch margins.  Use appropriate citation of outside sources as 

necessary, gathered in a bibliography at the end of the report, but these can be broadly 

referential, since this is a work of exposition, not a research paper as such.  This report 

is due in my office (210 West House) or via email, no later than 2pm Friday December 

5, 2014.  Please do not turn anything in to the MOODLE site.  No late work will be 

accepted.  Thank you.  

THE ECONOMICS OF LIFE

   Directions: Write an informative essay in response to the following 

prompt question: What part does economic thinking play in life? 

 While you may utilize some direct reference to your own personal life, 

your work must also speak in general terms.  Besides the answer to the 

broad abstract question above, please also provide a focused answer 

to at least two of the more specific prompts provided below:

1. To what extent can the economic perspective be applied when 

deciding between (1) your needs and desires regarding family 

and (2) the socially-imposed requirements and demands of 

building a successful career and/or business?

2. How will you reconcile your own personal dreams, hopes, and 

preferences with those of the others in your family unit (your 

spouse and your children)?  

3. How does economic thinking apply to the “social contract” of 

the family unit, or can “economics” be disregarded when it 

comes to decisions inside the family? 

4. How important is money in the successful accomplishment of 

your life goals?  

5. How important is it to take an economically rational view in 

regards towards thinking about and planning towards the 

future?

6. How does economic thinking apply to considerations of living 

and working in the city/urban environment versus the 

country/rural environment?  Explain how economics applies 

to questions surrounding whether to stay near where you 

originally grew up as opposed to moving far away and/or to 

moving to a culture that is very different to the one you were 

raised in.

7. Use economic thinking to describe your efforts to build 

elements of your human capital, e.g. the attainments of 

educational credentials, workplace skills and experiences, and 

social and cultural knowledge.  How are these important?

8. Describe the applicability of economic thinking to decisions 

regarding romance, courtship, and marriage.  Does economic 

thinking come into play in considerations of the relationship 

between people inside of the institution of marriage?  to 

questions of trust, of faithfulness, and of divorce?  Explain.

9. Consider the economics of your career.  Will you work in the 

same productive field your whole life, or will you have to make 

a major change in professional orientation at some point? 

 How will you prepare for and make such a transition?

10. What are the economics of planning for life difficulties 

such as unemployment, indebtedness, bankruptcy, and 

business failure?  What about the economics of possible 

personal challenges of psychological dysfunction such as 

depression, potential addictions, crime victimization, or 

chronic physical illness?