Essay on an Economist/Thinker and their Relevance for Economic Thought Theory

Purpose of the essay

Your written essay will account for 50% of the module mark and it should be 1500 words.

 

You will need to submit the essay electronically, in Word format, through the Turnitin icon that will appear in your Moodle space.

 

This means that you will be allowed to submit before the deadline but if you submit afterwards late penalties will apply.

 

With regard to the Essay topic, you need to choose an Economist/Thinker of the many that we are seeing / will see during this semester.

 

You could also pick one that we do not cover (it would not be possible to cover all of them) as long as it is in the Module textbooks (Vaggi and Groenewegen / Hunt and Lautzenheiser) or is mentioned during lectures.

 

The purpose of the essay is to review the work of the chosen expert and its relevance for the theory of economic thought.

 

You will need to summarise the main ideas defended and decide to which extent they were in sync with the thought of their period or they were ‘revolutionary’ as well as identify if they are used nowadays or the evolution of the theories / history / modern developments.have proved them wrong.

 

This means that for high marks the three areas need to be covered sufficiently and in a balanced way (summary of main ideas defended by the thinker; assessment of those ideas as revolutionary or not for their contemporaries; application or not of the ideas today).

 

The balance means that you cannot dedicate most of the essay to cover one part and then leave a couple of lines for the other two. Hence the structure of the essay should reflect the three parts mentioned above.

 

The essay needs to be descriptive only at the beginning and you are expected to show that you can express your views using some level of critical analysis. Please bear in mind the learning outcomes that this piece is trying to assess when completing your essay:

 

1. Evaluate the ways in which early contributions to economic thought have been refined (or rejected) in light of empirical experience

 

2. Appreciate the great economic theorists without taking their views as rule and recognising the possibilities of alternative approaches

 

3. Evaluate the debates and controversies of the discipline As general writing rules please remember: - Check for typos, grammar or spelling mistakes before submitting.

 

Use the APA referencing system as recommended by the University (See the website) - Add references throughout the text whenever you are reproducing, even if with other words, somebody else’s ideas.

 

 Add a reference list at the end (The reference list doesn’t count towards the word limit) - Try to use as much as possible your own words (ie, paraphrase) instead of copy. Turnitin checks for plagiarism and if you are deemed to have committed it, there will be consequences.

 

Please check the University Academic Integrity Policy in this respect. - If you exceed the word limit, there is a small allowance of up to 10% over the word limit. If that is exceeded too, marks will be deducted.

 

If you have doubts about what author to choose, please contact your module tutor.

 

There will be occasions during lectures to ask any questions and to guide you on essay structure.

 

The use of Turnitin will also be shown. Your Moodle space already includes the University marking criteria for written coursework and a word template that you are encouraged to use to submit this particular piece of work.