We’ve covered a number of basic business concepts in this week’s readings, and now you will find some examples of these concepts at work in the world today. You will find two articles from current news sources and discuss the relevant concepts in these articles.

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Step One – Find Two Articles
Find at least two articles in newspapers, magazines or online about CURRENT NEWS EVENTS (e.g., within the last year) that illustrate two business concepts we’ve learned about this week. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Free market versus planned economies (As an example: articles about China, North Korea, or Cuba that talk about opening of previously controlled markets). DON”T USE VIETNAM, as that was covered last week.
• The importance of small businesses to a thriving economy. (An article about an increase in small business bankruptcies would be a negative sign for the economy, while an article about an increase in new business start-ups would be a positive sign.)
• Supply and demand (Why is the price of gasoline so high right now? Is it low supply, or high demand, or both?)
• The Business Cycle (Is the Federal Reserve Board raising rates? Lowering rates? Why? Can you find an article that helps us determine where we are in the cycle?) As an example of an article that gives us clues to the above, look at:http://www.bizjournals.com/extraedge/washingtonbureau/archive/2006/06/19/bureau3.html?market=seattle

Don’t use reference sites like Wikipedia or government sites. Find articles about news events. They can be announcements from the government (unemployment rate for the quarter, etc.)–I want you to look for current news items.

Look at newspapers (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post), magazines (Time, Newsweek, Business Week), or the online sites for these publications or any other online news site (CNN, MSN, PI.com). Look for reliable sources that check their facts.

You should be looking for articles that illustrate two different concepts. One article per concept, so your assignment will have two parts–article #1 and article #2.

Step Two – Write Summary/analysis of Both Articles.
Summarize each article. Include:

• Citation/source. If it is online, include a link. If it is in print, cite the publication and date.
• What is the relevant history/background of this situation? An article about high lumber prices might include some important explanations – perhaps a shortage due to reduced logging because of bad weather, or maybe there’s a high demand from home builders in California.
• What business concept is being illustrated by the article? An article about high lumber prices might illustrate supply and demand, etc. Write a paragraph about how the concept applies, what affect it will have (on the economy, on you, on your city, whatever). Feel free to express opinions, speculation, whatever. This is where you will show me you’ve been thinking and analyzing, not just summarizing what you’ve read.

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