Introduction to Economics Richard S. Grossman Economics 101 Fall 2023 The Economic Naturalist Assignment You will write two \"Economic Naturalist\" essays this semester, one to be uploaded (via moodle) no later than 8 pm on Friday, October 2?, the other to be uploaded no later than 8 pm on Friday, December 8 (Word or pdf formats only). As with other assignments in this course, these deadlines are not movable. The submission portal will be open for about a week before they are due, so please do not wait until the last minute to submit. As an economic naturalist, you are an observer of economic phenomena in the world around you. This assignment was originally developed by Robert Frank.1 An edited version of his description is below. An important part of your experience in this course will be two short writing assignments designed to foster your skills as an economic naturalistthat is, an observer (using the lens of economics) of the world around you. In each of these papers, your assignment is to use a principle, or principles, discussed in the course to explain some pattern of events or behavior that you personally have observed (or have read about in the newspaper). Your essay should explain your personal connection to the phenomenon you discuss. You can find numerous examples in textbooks, and we will discuss many others in class. The Economic Naturalist assignments ask for your perspective on economic events. I want your perspective, not that of ChatGPT or some other Al program. The assignments will all be run through tum-it-in.com (as well as at least one pair of human eyes), which checks for plagiarism and use of Al. Any assignment with a high score on either measure will be passed along to the Honor Board. Your space limit is 500 words. Many excellent papers are signicantly shorter. Please do not lard your essay with complex terminology. Imagine yourself talking to a relative who has never had a course in economics. The best papers are ones that would be clearly intelligible to such a person, and typically these papers do not use any algebra or graphs. You need not include a bibliography, but please note that excessive use of direct quotes may set off tum-it-in's plagiarism indicator. This assignment is not a PhD dissertation. You are not expected to do voluminous research in support of your argument, although a relevant fact or two might help convince yourself and others that you are on the right track. It makes no difference whether your topic is \"important,\" but try, as best you can, to choose something interesting. A successful paper is one that beg ins with a really interesting question (one that makes the listener instantly curious to learn the answer) and then uses an economic principle or principles to construct a plausible answer. You will know you have a good paper if the first thing your roommate wants to do upon reading it is to tell friends about it