Final paper proposal and TBA readings

Update: Check out this piece, this piece, and this piece first, then as many of the ones below as you have time for.

For next week, check out the articles Manuel linked to on his blog. Keep updated on the situation by checking the news regularly, as the situation is evolving on a minute by minute basis.

For more background on the crisis, check out these articles by Krugman, Baker, and Baker (all are relatively short, and the last post contains a link to an interesting press conference if you want some audio to change things up)

Also check out Baker's take on Argentina circa 2001, as it helps explain one possible resolution to the crisis that might be on the horizon. There's a few other links to some earlier post as well as to an NPR podcast that originally started the exchange, which are all worth checking out.

Now to briefly discuss paper proposals for the final essay.

We will do some workshopping/brainstorming/and researching this coming Friday (bring your laptops). Then the proposals are due the following week. Basically, in a short proposal, I want you to describe the following:

- What your general topic is and the specific way in which you will narrow down the focus.

- What your general position on the particular issue will be. This final paper will be a detailed "policy primer," meaning that it should do a little bit of everything we have done so far in the assignments: explain the background of the issue in a way that helps understand the need for your proposal, discuss different potential policies in relationship to the one you are proposing, and explain the effects of your proposal, including any negative ones, and detail why you feel those are the best results.

- Include an annotated bibliography (meaning you include 4-6 sentences summarizing the source along with the citation information) of 6+ sources (not including general information websites or encyclopedias).

You can post this on your blog for class on Friday, November 18. Actually writing it up won't take very long (it may not even exceed one paragraph)--the real challenge comes from actually finding sources, narrowing down your topic, and defining your position.