Comprehensive Economics Commentary Submission and Formatting Guide

Administrative Details and Deadlines

Deadline Adjustment: The assignment due date has been moved to Wednesday. This adjustment was made because class was lost on the preceding Friday, making a Monday deadline impractical.
Submission Policy: Assignments must be turned in at the beginning of class. The instructor intends to start new material toward the end of the period once submissions are collected.
Extension Policy: While general expectations are that students are prepared, the instructor acknowledges that some may need more time; however, most students appeared to be in good shape during the previous class session.
Grace Period: Students may use part of the next class to finalize work, but the goal is to be completely finished by Wednesday.
Grading for Current Phase: The current submission is graded for completion. A completed assignment will receive a grade of $100$ .
Future Grading: The rewritten version of this commentary will be graded for the class and for the International Baccalaureate (IB) requirements starting next school year.
Physical Copy Requirement: The assignment must be printed. The instructor prefers physical copies for several reasons: - Accuracy of Grading: It is easier to write on and grade a physical diagram compared to using Google Docs. - Feedback Value: Detailed handwritten feedback provided over the summer will serve as a starting point for the rewrite at the beginning of the next school year. - Environmental Perspective: The instructor explicitly noted, "Through trees. We farm trees. I'm not all that worried about their eminent demise. We can farm trees."

Document Composition and Order

The final submission must be presented as a single document package in the following sequence:

Cover Sheet: The first page of the document.
Article: Starting on a new page.
Commentary: Starting on a new page following the article.

Formatting and Stylistic Requirements

Typography: - Font Size: $12\,pt$ . - Spacing: Double-spaced. - Margins: $1\,inch$ margins on all sides. - Font Type: Normal, standard typeset (e.g., Times New Roman). No "fancy" or "pretty" fonts. - Ink Color: Black ink only (no colors except where specifically required for diagrams).
Article Cleaning: Students should remove "crap" such as advertisements and internet-source clutter from the pasted article. Relevant parts of the article should be highlighted.
Digital Consolidation: For those entering the next grade level (juniors moving to senior year), all three required commentaries will eventually reside in one continuous document.

Cover Sheet Specifications

The cover sheet must include the following specific fields in a logical, typed order:

Commentary Number: Always labeled as "Commentary Number 1."
Syllabus Unit: Microeconomics.
Key Concept: Must be one of the three IB key concepts. The concept chosen for the cover sheet must match the concept identified in the opening paragraph of the commentary.
Title of the Article: Written exactly as it appears in the original newspaper or magazine.
Source of the Article: The name of the publication (e.g., "The New York Times") found at the top of the paper or cover of the magazine.
URL Link: A true clickable-style link (e.g., $http:\backslash\backslash…$ ).
Date Published: The specific date printed on the article.
Date Accessed: The date the student first found the article online.
Date Written: The date the finishing touches were put on the commentary (e.g., May 5 or May 6).
Word Count: Must be $\le 800$ words.

Date Validity Rules

Logical Consistency: The "Date Accessed" cannot precede the "Date Published."
One-Year Window: On the final draft, the time elapsed between the "Date Accessed"/"Date Published" and the "Date Written" must be less than one year. If the gap is more than a year, a penalty is applied.
Illustration of Date Ordering: If an article is accessed on $05/15/2025$ and the commentary is written on $05/01/2026$ , it remains within the valid one-year window.

Word Count Rules and Exclusions

Included in Word Count: The body of the commentary (Introduction, Explanation, Analysis, Evaluation).
Excluded from Word Count: - The Cover Sheet. - The Article text. - Diagram Titles (if $\le 10$ words). - Individual Diagram Labels (if $\le 5$ words). - Section Headers: Labels like "Introduction," "Analysis," or "Evaluation" do not count toward the total if the student chooses to use them for clarity.

Diagram and Section Guidelines

Diagram Labels: Must be clear and non-abusive (i.e., not used to sneak extra analysis words into the count).
Diagram Titles: Should be descriptive (e.g., "Five Demands") rather than just "Diagram."
Color Usage: If colors are referenced in the text (e.g., "the red section"), the student must use a color printer. The instructor noted it is their job to read, but the student's job to ensure the visual information is clear.
Anonymity: For final IB purposes, names should not be on the commentary body; only candidate numbers are typically used. For this draft, names may be on the cover but avoid identifiers in the text body.

Commentary Structural Elements

Introduction: Establish the context and identify the key concept.
Diagram: A visual representation of the economic theory.
Diagram Explanation: Connect the specific numbers and events from the article directly to the theoretical model. Avoid just describing the graph generally; use article specifics.
Analysis: - Focus: The intersection of theory and real-world application. - Depth over Breadth: The instructor prefers deep detail on one theoretical application rather than a "sketchy" overview of multiple. - Disconnects: Highlight where the article differs from theoretical expectations (e.g., a minimum wage article stating jobs were not lost despite the theory predicting they would be). - Incorporation of Data: Bring in real-world numbers from the article to support analytical points.
Evaluation: This section should approach roughly $200$ to $225$ words. It should avoid redundancy with the introduction. - The CLASPS/Evaluation Framework: - C: Conclusion (summarizing the overall impact). - L: Long-run vs. Short-run (time horizons). - A: Assumptions (theoretical assumptions that may break down in reality). - S: Stakeholders (how different groups like consumers, producers, or government are affected). - P: Prioritization (determining which stakeholder or effect is most significant). - S: Strengths and Weaknesses of the theory/policy.

Questions & Discussion

Question regarding the library printer: The instructor warned against waiting until the last minute, noting that students often mistakenly believe the library printer only functions 15 minutes before class. He confirmed with librarians that the printers do indeed work on the day before an assignment is due.
Question regarding section labels: A student asked if "Intro" or "Analysis" labels should be included. The instructor replied that they are helpful for the reader to identify where evaluation begins, and they will not be counted against the word total.
Question on Diagram Titles: A student asked if the title needs to be "Diagram 1." The instructor recommended using a descriptive title like "Supply and Demand for [Product]" instead.
Question on Redundancy: A student asked about repeating information in the intro and evaluation. The instructor advised avoiding redundancy to save word count for deeper analysis.
Question on the Key Concept: A student asked if the "Main Idea" (e.g., Minimum Wage) should be on the cover sheet. The instructor clarified that only the "Key Concept" (e.g., Equity) belongs on the cover sheet, as there might be multiple themes but only one primary IB Key Concept.
Question on Word Count specifics: A student asked if they needed to cut words if they were at $812$ . The instructor confirmed that any amount over $800$ must be trimmed.