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Policy Assessment Paper

Working individually, students will research a government policy (domestic or foreign). Students must select a government policy and have it approved by the instructor. The topic of the paper must consist of the policy and its effects on one, or more, of the following macroeconomic topics:

Macroeconomic Topics:

  • Supply and Demand
  • Comparative Advantage
  • Opportunity Cost
  • GDP
  • GDP per Capita
  • GNP
  • Inflation
  • Real vs. Nominal
  • The Banking System, The Fed, and Commercial Banks
  • Fiscal and Monetary Policies

It is required to provide information about the various facets of the question/topic via appropriate sources, and to provide a critical analysis of such. Detailed connections must be drawn to academic research, mainstream media, the text, and more.

The minimum page requirement is *six (6) pages, while meeting all of the mentioned standards. All submissions must be formatted as a Microsoft Office document/item according to SMUMN standards. Papers must have or be: one-inch margins, double spaced, and 11 or 12-point Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri font. Content must be original and should cover the topic in detail. APA formatting, including third person narrative, and citations (references and in-text) are required.

A completed Policy Assessment Paper must be APA formatted with citations and include the following components when received:

  1. SMUMN Cover Sheet (it is a separate page which does not count toward overall number of pages)
    • The SMUMN Cover sheet should be attached as its own separate document and file name. The downloadable template is found on Blackboard in the assignment’s folder.
  2. Title Page (it is a separate page which does not count toward total number of pages and should include the following information: Author’s Name, Paper Title, Course Name and Number, Date, University Name, and Professor’s Name)
    • “Running Head:” with the header is only found on this page. Every subsequent page will only have the header and not include “Running Head:”
  3. Abstract (it is a separate page and is labeled in bold as Abstract and includes a Keywords section; this section should be approximately ½ page in length, but not exceeding 1 page)
    • The abstract is the section informing the reader of what is found in the Discussion
    • The keywords are a list of words in which the author used in the scholarly search engines to find the scholarly sources. A minimum of 5 keywords should be used and listed.
  4. Introduction (it is labeled in bold as Introduction and includes a thesis statement; this section should be approximately 1 page in length) The author should introduce the topic in detail.
  5. Discussion (it is labeled in bold as Discussion and should consist of the remaining number of required pages) The author should discuss the topic and research in detail, drawing connections, identifying problems, etc.
  6. Conclusion (it is labeled in bold as Conclusion and should be approximately 1 page in length) The author must synthesize conclusions and propose alternatives for solutions.
  7. References (it is labeled in bold as References and is a separate page which does not count toward overall number of pages) A minimum of 8 scholarly sources are required and be sure to use both required texts. For help on APA please reference The Purdue Owl.

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