Wrting an essay

How to write an essay in Economics

A good economics essay requires a clear argument that is well-supported by appropriately referenced evidence. Research your topic thoroughly and then carefully plan out your essay. A good structure is essential, as is sticking closely to the main essay question. Be sure to proof-read your essay and try to write in formal and precise prose.

Research the topic thoroughly. Once you have a clear understanding of the question you are being asked, it’s time to do some thorough research on the topic. Consult any reading lists and economics textbooks you have, and ask your teacher or lecturer for some recommendations if you are struggling to find reading material.

Be sure that you understand all the key terms that you are being asked about. - What is inequality and inequity of opportunity? How can inequity of opportunity lead to inequality?

Try to keep your reading focussed closely to the essay question. - Use the web site and newspaper web sites - remember write down quotes and keep your sources.

Don’t forget to look at the class notes you have made.

Plan out your content. After thinking about the question, and doing some research, you will have developed some ideas about what to write in your essay. Writing a good essay plan will help you stay focussed on the key points, and produce a clearly structured essay that flows and develops. Start by writing the key points you want to focus on in a basic list.

Once you have put together a list of key points, then try to add in some more detail that brings in elements from your research.

When you come to write out your essay, you can develop a paragraph based on each point.

Key points - Inequality - what s it? How is it measured? How unequal is NZ? Evidense of this?

Think about your structure. Now you have mapped out the key points that you want to discuss in your essay, you need to spend some time thinking about how you will put it all together. The structure of your essay is very important, and shouldn’t be overlooked. Generally essays will be structured in three parts: Introduction; Main Body; and Conclusion.

All of the evidence and explanation will be in the main body of the essay.
Order the key points in the body of your essay in such a way that they flow logically.
If you are writing a longer essay, you can break the main body into different sections.
If you have a word limit, be sure to take this into account when you are planning.
Allocate yourself a rough number of words per section.

The introduction and conclusion can be just a paragraph each

Write the introduction.

The introduction is the part of the essay in which you should provide a clear outline of your main argument, and a basic outline of the content of your essay. You’re introduction should concisely address the following points:

What your essay is about.
What material you will cover in the essay.

What your argument is.

Example: Inequality is an issue in NZ, the consequences of inequality include...............
I will investigating the issue of inequality in NZ and how inequity of opportunity can lead to the issue of inequality - especially between different groups in NZ.

You could define the two main terms here.

Inequality is ............

Inequity is .........

Write the body of the essay.

The body of your essay is where you will expand your argument, and introduce the evidence that supports it. It’s important that this section of the essay flows and has a clear order. You could start by having the first few paragraphs discuss what inequality and the impact on the economy.

Example:

You could start by looking at inequality in NZ - showing how it is measured. Use a lorenz curve and gini coefficient to show what has been happening to inequality in NZ.

Explain and evidence. In each paragraph of the body of your essay you should explain and use evidence.

Bring in appropriate evidence from your research and engage directly with this material. Your evidence might include real world examples, and should always be fully referenced.

Use evidence to help explain your arguements.
Satistics, graphs, quotes and diagrams that show the issue of inequality - how is NZ unequal, what is some of the evidence of this?
Is inequality becoming better or worse in NZ? Evidence? (Gini coeffcient for NZ).
Which groups are most affected by inequality? Evidence (Income and ethnicity, unemployment and ethnicity etc...).
How does inequity of opportunity lead to inequality? Evidence? Housing issue - damp houses = more sickness so more days off school etc, inadaquate food - less healthy - less able to concentrate at school etc. Less access to health care - results in.....
Consumption possibilty curve - how higher incomes lead to more abilyt to save and so creates more wealth in future - use wealth and income lorenz curve to show impact.
What are the effects of inequality? Goods points about inequality? Bad points about inequality?
How can the government work to reduce inequality? Working for families, more progressive taxes, free school lunches, free education etc..
Write the conclusion. Once you reach the conclusion, the bulk of the work is done and you should have introduced all the material you wanted to use in the essay. In the conclusion you can summarise what your essay has argued, and what the evidence you introduced has indicated. Think about it as wrapping up the content of the essay in a neat package that the reader can take away.