Your assignment is to write a short paper (750 – 1000 words) applying a labor economics theory/concept you learned in this class to an observed change in the U.S. labor market induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Your paper should include the following:
Find an example in the news of an observed change in the U.S. labor market induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example,
Wages increase for grocery store employees during pandemic (this occupation is not normally associated with hazard pay).
Amazon fires warehouse worker who organized protest over unsafe working conditions after worker tests positive for coronavirus.
College enrollment for summer classes declines 20 percent amid pandemic.
You are required to send me your article for approval by Sunday, 5/3 at 11:59 p.m. Your article should come from a source such as The New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, Atlantic, New Yorker, CNN, etc.
Provide a brief summary of the news article/economic event you have chosen for your analysis. You may include your own experience, if applicable (e.g. you may comment on why it is that you or other students you know may take a gap year if online only classes continue through the fall).
Describe how the labor theory/concept you learned in this class (e.g. Labor Demand/Supply, CWD, Human Capital Investment, Moral Hazard, Efficiency Wages, Unions, etc.) explains the change in the labor market. Include description of the theory and graphs showing shifts in curves, if applicable.
Upload your final paper here.
