Up: Economics Network > Writing for Economics
How to use this guide
A writing component was added to EC201 following feedback from alumnae and partner employers. Both groups pointed to the need for graduates to have writing skills to a professional standard. One alumna now working in the City has outlined the way writing skills are necessary and the dangers of being unable to perform your duties in this way. As a result, writing tasks have been introduced to your coursework and you'll meet basic models relating to business correspondence, application forms and report writing. These models and examples for you to look at are included in this short writing guide.
The basis of this writing course is that there are more and less persuasive ways to organise information into an argument / description. This organisation will be taught in short answer tasks that are quite similar to the responses you will have to provide on the application forms you complete. The basic flow this course suggests is the basis of good paragraphing and we expect it to feature in your essays, which provide you with the opportunity to construct a longer and more complex argument (as you would in writing a report / long email).
This writing course will recommend a classic academic and professional writing rhetoric (organisation). This is thesis - justification - support.
Thesis - this is the idea or opinion you have
e.g. 1 Business Strategy Analysis is intended to allow the accurate valuation of a firm
e.g. 2 Joining the Euro would place tight restrictions on the UK's autonomy in monetary policy, which would be problematic.
Justification - the reason(s) why your idea / opinion are valid
e.g. 1 This valuation is based on identifying profit drivers and key risks that will affect profit potential.
e.g. 2 Unlike many other EU member states, the British economy and population are highly sensitive to interest rate changes.
Support - the detail / statistics / examples that show your reasons are realistic
e.g. 1 Analysis of potential profit involves assessing the intensity of competition and the threats presented by new entrants or substitute products. In addition, the relative bargaining power of buyers and sellers will affect how much of the potential profit the firm can realise.
e.g. 2 This is largely because of the high scale of owner-occupation on variable-rate mortgages. Joining a currency union with little monetary flexibility would require the UK to have more flexibility than it currently does in its housing market. The rented housing sector is too small to be a good substitute for owner-occupation and so if the UK were to sign up, major changes would have to be made to the structure of housing finance.
Putting the three together you have a text that reads well and is clear.
Definition (e.g. 1)
Business Strategy Analysis is intended to allow the accurate valuation of a firm. This valuation is based on identifying profit drivers and key risks that will affect profit potential. Analysis of this potential involves assessing the intensity of competition and the threats presented by new entrants or substitute products. In addition, the relative bargaining power of buyers and sellers will affect how much of the potential profit the firm can realise.
Argument (e,g, 2)
Joining the Euro would place tight restrictions on the UK's autonomy in monetary policy, which would be problematic. Unlike many other EU member states, the British economy and population are highly sensitive to interest rate changes. This is in part because of the high scale of owner-occupation on variable-rate mortgages. Joining a currency union with little monetary flexibility would require the UK to have more flexibility than it currently does in its housing market. The rented housing sector is too small to be a good substitute for owner-occupation and so if the UK were to sign up, major changes would have to be made to the structure of housing finance.
This is what this course intends to demonstrate.