ECON7200 Semester 1, 2024
Essay
Deadline: 6 May, 2024 at 16:00
Write an essay between 800 and 1200 words (excluding references), consisting of three tasks:
1. Read and summarize the following article:
Talking War and Market Volatility With a Giant of Economics – The New York Times by Jeff
Sommer published on 3 March 2022.
2. Explain why, in the article, when asked about where the stock market is heading, Eugene Fama
answers: “My whole life’s work says you can’t answer that question.” Give a real-life example to
prove his point.
3. To what extent do you agree or disagree with his statement that “Markets can be rational
without politics being rational or people always being rational.”?
General Guideline: The essay should start with the introduction, main body and the conclusion.
Make sure that in your essay, all the three tasks are carried out.
Criteria and Marking:
The total mark for this assignment is 30, which consists of the following criteria:
 Article summary (3 marks)
 Explaining Fama’s statement
(7 marks)
 Assessing Fama’s statement about
rationality (10 marks)
 Writing Quality (5 marks)
 Presentation (1 mark)
 Reference (4 marks)
In the Writing Quality criterion, your writing style, essay flow and grammar/spelling will be
examined. The Presentation criterion includes various details such as document format,
identification, and compliance of word limit. In addition, there are some general points to consider:
 Your essay must have a cover page detailing your ID and word count.
 Remember to give a total word count (excluding references) on the cover page.
 You cannot use any bullet points in the summary.
 Any reference style is allowed, but it must be consistent (i.e. same style throughout the
essay).
 Please check you citation’s accuracy, even if it’s pre-filled from Google Scholar or UQ
Library.
 You cannot cite Wikipedia or Investopedia.
 If graphs/figures are used, remember to quote the source.
 Use academic writing style and not creative writing style.
 Do not plagiarize! It will be dealt with very seriously in UQ and is simply not worth trying.
Submission:
Each student should submit a Word or PDF file through the Turnitin link on the Blackboard course
website. Submission through email will not be accepted. All submissions will be run through the
Turnitin anti-plagiarism software.