Each student is required to produce a research paper (at least 2,500 words in length) on an international trade* topic of their choice. Your topic may be current or historical and should extend beyond what we have discussed in class or read in the text.
Submit your proposed topic to me, either on paper or by e-mail no later than 21-Sep. Your proposal should fit on one page, but exceed fifty words in length. List at least five published sources that you plan to use. (This is not to imply that your final paper should rely on only five sources; it's just a start).
The paper will be due no later than Wednesday, 22-Nov, at 4 PM. Your grade on the paper will represent 15 percent of your final grade.
Some topics from the past include the following: NAFTA, EU, environmental disputes (tuna fishing & dolphins killed; shrimp fishing and sea turtles; imported gasoline and air quality measures), WTO, US trade with various nations, labor standards (sweatshops), China's accession to the WTO, economic sanctions, trade and military conflict, specific US industries that have been affected by trade restrictions. . .
Most of these topics are controversial, and you may hold
strong opinions; I would be disappointed if you were indifferent to questions
that have moral dimensions. Nevertheless, your assignment is to produce an
objective research paper that considers all sides of your issue, not an
advocacy piece.
I hope this list will give you some ideas, but do not let it restrict your
imagination.
Need more ideas? Send me an e-mail message in which you briefly describe your
(international) interests and future plans.
Here is a site that may give you some ideas -- http://www.iie.com/ -- Look for their "Hot Topics" link. Note that several of the topics require perhaps more knowledge of international finance than you are likely to have at present, but there are still some good trade issues here.
You could also visit the World Trade Organization, US International Trade Administration, US International Trade Commission, NAFTA and EU web sites (click here for links to these and other sites).
* Note that topics related to trade in good or services are most appropriate. There are many trade-related organizations and agreements that you might consider. Some topics related to international flows of the factors of production are very appropriate, such direct foreign investment. However, others require more knowledge of international finance and macroeconomics than I could reasonably expect you to possess (as we will tackle these topics toward the end of the semester). Therefore, avoid international finance topics -- such as currency crises, "dollarization", optimum currency areas, or the European Monetary Union -- even though they are very interesting.
Instructions for including your word count, for Microsoft Word
From the menu, choose, Tools --> Word Count. What you want to do is copy this window, and paste it into the last page of your document. Here's how: Hold down the Alt key (Alt) and press the Print Screen key. Click the close button in the word count box. Next, move your cursor to a blank space at the end of your document, and Paste the screen image there. For this page, the word count is shown below.
