Beyond Economics

Complete guidelines for the Course Reflection Essay are listed after Essay 5.

ESSAY 5: Energy, Environment,Technology, & Innovation

See Aplia for complete guidelines for this essay.

PART 1
Watch the documentary below. This is several years old and focuses on California, but it covers a wide range of topics that are very current and apply to the whole country.

• NOVA: The Big Energy Gamble (California) / Alternate Source  [55 minutes]

PART 2
Find another video of your own on one of the above topics OR choose one of the following (most are 9-20 minutes).

• Overview of Climate Change / Climate Change and National Security (Peter Sinclair)
• Brief History of the Fossil Fuel Age
• The Story of Stuff: Bottled Water / The Story of Stuff: Electronics
• TED: Bill Gates – Energy Innovation
• Better Place: Shai Agassi – Innovative Plan for Electic Cars (Report from Australia, 6/11 – 15:35 min.)
  
• TED: Kevin Kelley Tells Technology’s Epic Story (2009, 17 min)
  
• PBS: Tech’s Next Feats [10:36 min, 4/20/2012]
• Did You Know 3.0 (Updated for 2012) / Imaginary Foundation: Jason Silva – Futurist
• Green Cities of the Future:
  China – Tianjin Eco City (2 min.) /Abu Dhabi: Masdar City: arrated (7 min.)
• Meet the Press: Thomas Friedman sums up why America is in a hole

COURSE REFLECTION ESSAY

• The complete guidelines for this essay are here.
• You may do this essay instead of any one of the five essays. It could substitute for one that you may have skipped or #5. However, you may do the original essay topic instead of this reflection essay.
• If you choose this option, you will submit it through Aplia in place of one of the other five.
• If you skipped a previous essay, you will need to arrange for a deadline extension in person (not by email request).

Here are the components of and headings for the reflection essay.

INTRODUCTION
Briefly describe your background knowledge, awareness, and understanding of the economy prior to taking this course.

MAJOR POINTS/THEMES (Replace this with 3-5 separate headings, one for each section)
This is the major part of the essay. Divide it into three to five sections (paragraphs), each with its own heading. In each section, discuss a major problem, issue, or trend (positive or negative) affecting the economy.

CONCLUSION
Discuss the following questions or something similar that articulates what you got from taking this course. What were the most important or surprising things that you learned? How might you plan your career or live your life differently?

ESSAY 4: Globalization of Production, Consumption, and Employment

See Aplia for assignment specifics. For Part 1, you will be watching one of the videos below (about 45-55 minutes each). For Part 2,  you will be finding one of your own (minimum of 4-5 minutes). For Part 2, you may also use the videos for Globalization in the Class Links section (some of these are longer than 4-5 minutes).

• FRONTLINE: Is Wal-Mart Good for America? (2005)
• CNBC: TRASH INC. – The Secret Life of Garbage (2010)

ESSAY 3: Comparing Health Care Systems

• FRONTLINE: Sick Around the World – Five Capitalist Democracies & How They Do It
• FRONTLINE: Obama’s Deal (behind the scenes politics of health care reform)

ESSAY 2: The Financial Crisis – Causes, Rescue, and Regulation

• CNBC: House of Cards (general, covers 2000-2009)
• FRONTLINE: Inside the Meltdown (technical, focuses on 2008)
• FRONTLINE: Video Timeline of Financial Deregulation
  (This is an advanced series of many clips covering several decades.)

ESSAY 1: Challenges and Opportunities for the Future

• INTERVIEW: Author of The End of Growth on the Keiser Report (3/2011)
• BLOOMBERG: Risk Takers: Elon Musk (PayPal, Tesla, SolarCity, Space X)