澳大利亞悉尼大學經濟學專業留學生essay要求格式及寫作輔導：Commentary on the economy

 

In this assessment you will write two 500-word commentaries on the economy. You will find a newspaper article published during the semester and examine it for its economic perspective. You will show that you are able to explain contemporary issues using insights from the unit. 

 

“Explain to your friend, who has never done any economics (orthodox or heterodox), what perspective the article is using, and what an alternative perspective would say about the same issue.”

在這個評估你將寫500字經濟的評論。在學期期間出版的報紙文章和研究它的經濟視角。你會發現，你是能夠解釋當代問題，使用單位的見解。

 

“告訴你的朋友，他從未做過任何經濟學（正統和異端的），這篇文章是用什么角度，而另一種觀點認為對同一個問題。”

 

1. 3pm on Monday 29 August 2011. You must deliver your essay to the ECOP1004 box in the foyer of the Merewether Building.

 

2. 3pm on Monday 10 October 2011. You must deliver your essay to the ECOP1004 box in the foyer of the Merewether Building.

 

NOTE: YOU MUST SUBMIT AN ELECTRONIC COPY OF THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE WITH YOUR PAPER. 

 

Marking criteria 

 The essay is designed to assess your written communication and argumentative skills, your understanding of political economic concepts, and your ability to apply these to concrete political economic issues. Each essay must contain a bibliography which lists all of the sources cited. Proper citation conventions must be followed. The following criteria will determine your grade:

本文的目的是評估你的書面溝通和論辯技巧，你的政治經濟概念的理解，并且你將這些具體的政治經濟問題的能力。每一篇dissertation必須包含一個參考書目列出所有引用來源。適當的引文規范必須遵循。

 

• Clarity of expression

• Relevance of the newspaper article and the analysis to the unit of study

• Demonstrated understanding of ECOP1004 concepts

 

 Submission of written work

Written work must be submitted in the following format:

 

a) Your name and tutorial day and time at the top of the first page#p#分頁標題#e#

b) A title and word count at the top of the first page

c) Page numbering 

d) Double-spaced

e) Times New Roman font, size 12

f) 2.5 cm margins

 

All students are required to submit a signed and dated plagiarism policy compliance statement with written work. The statement can be downloaded from Blackboard (Student resources folder). 

 

The University of Sydney takes alleged cases of plagiarism very seriously. Every student has the responsibility to submit appropriately referenced assignments that are in line with the current policy.  Information about the policy can be found

Sell the trains? More toll roads? Bring it on, says O'Farrell's go-to man

 

Saulwick, Jacob. Sydney Morning Herald [Sydney, N.S.W] 30 June 2011: 1. 

THE man hand-picked by Barry O'Farrell to drive the future of NSW transport and infrastructure is in favour of privatising the state's rail system and supports congestion charges to get drivers off the roads. 

Paul Broad, named the first chief executive of Infrastructure NSW this week, is an unabashed fan of Jeff Kennett's reforms to the Victorian transport system and believes NSW would benefit from something similar. 

 

Mr Broad, an economist and former utilities executive, stressed he did not have detailed plans. But he used an interview yesterday to lay out a commitment to free-market principles in providing infrastructure. 

 

Asked if he would support more private involvement in Sydney's rail system, run by the government-owned RailCorp, Mr Broad said: "I don't want to pre-empt it, but obviously a personal thought about that is that you would. I think that the private sector in Victoria has done extremely well in part of their rail network. So I do think there's opportunity for that." 

 

As chief executive of Hunter Water in the early 1990s, Mr Broad introduced a user-pays charging system that he described yesterday as his "passion". 

The same principles could be applied to transport. Asked if this meant he would push for more toll roads, or the use of congestion taxes, Mr Broad said: "They are all in the mix there. 

 

"I don't want to focus on that in day one, that just sort of scares all the natives, but just put them in the mix and make sure we don't lose sight of them going forward. 

"We have to think very much about the demand side and how we send price signals ... in this whole infrastructure game." 

 

Mr Broad's new job makes him responsible for drawing up five-year and 20-year infrastructure plans. The five-year plan will need to be detailed and costed, and explain how the private sector could participate in projects and services. #p#分頁標題#e#

Mr Broad said he supported expanding Sydney's light rail network into the CBD and the eastern suburbs. "I do think that is classic low-hanging fruit." 

His economic principles also mean he supports a carbon tax over the federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott's "direct action" approach to climate change. 

But he is a fan of the work of two other former Liberal leaders: 

 

Jeff Kennett, who sold off Melbourne's tram and train network, and Nick Greiner, who gave him his start at Hunter Water. 

 

"I actually admire what Kennett did. And I think we did a fair bit of that in Nick Greiner's time," he said. 

 

Commentary: I would say to my friend …

 

This article is about the ownership and pricing of public and private transport services. Mr Broad’s perspective derives from neoclassical economics, evident from his focus on individual decision-making; his argument that “the market” is the best way to provide transport services; and his support for minimal government. I’ll explain Mr Broad’s position and outline an Institutionalist perspective on the issues.

 

Mr Broad’s argument in relation to private transport is that congestion on the roads is bad/inefficient, and needs to be reduced. As a neoclassical economist, for whom the basis of every analysis is the individual decision-maker, Broad wants to reduce congestion by raising the cost of driving a private car to the individual decision-makers. Another way to raise the individual cost of driving is to charge tolls on roads. When it comes to public transport, Mr Broad is wholeheartedly in favour of privatization, or the sale of publicly-owned assets and infrastructure to private firms, because he believes that on the one hand the market is the best way to organize economic activity and on the other hand the government’s role in the economy must be minimized. In neoclassical economics the state is viewed as external to the economy and incapable of providing goods and services as efficiently as privately-owned firms, which are motivated by profit (with the exclusion of so-called “public goods” which are not profitable for the private sector to provide, such as national defense). 

 

An alternative perspective on these issues is Institutionalism, which provides a very different perspective on public transport than the free market view of Mr Broad. An Institutionalist analysis starts by examining the institutions involved. The key institutions here are the public and private transport systems and the ideology of individual choice which underpins private car ownership and use. Institutionalists are explicitly concerned with broad social goals such as environmental sustainability and equity – neoclassical economics, as I showed you above, is focused only on efficiency. Institutionalists, because they see the economy as embedded within society, view the state as part of the economic system – neoclassical economics, view www.ttc-switch.com the state as an intervention into the economy, and hence want it minimized. #p#分頁標題#e#

 

An Institutionalist analysis of road congestion would look far beyond individual decision-making to the broader ideologies and structures within which decisions are made. Capitalism promotes consumerism and an ideology of the sanctity of the freedom of individual choice. To meet social goals such as environmental sustainability, but the big the state needs to massively reorganize the transport system in favour of public transport. This could involve a system of taxes and subsidies to change prices and hence encourage use of public transport, but would also require non-market mechanisms such as, for example, the creation of public transport corridors involving street closures, car-free areas, and massive investment in middle to higher density accommodation close to the city (such as the Green Square development). The use of advertising to change people’s values with respect to transport would be helpful, just as the “Drink and drive and you’re a bloody idiot” campaign changed values around drink driving.