Wall Street Journal Executive Summaries are short (between two to three double
spaced typed pages) synopses of articles appearing in the Wall Street Journal. The summary
shall state the date, author and topic of the article (1st paragraph).
The 2nd and 3rd paragraphs (or additional paragraphs if necessary) shall summarize
and describe the key points of the article. This portion of the summary should discuss the
relevant economic event(s) or issue addressed in the article. (For example, it could be
about housing prices in the United States or the unemployment rate in Spain.)
Finally, the summary should critically evaluate the economic issue or concept that is
addressed in the article. (For example, housing prices are rising because the supply is
declining or the unemployment rate is falling because the Euro is depreciating causing
Spanish exports to increase and thus increasing aggregate demand.) In this latter part of the
summary, you are expected to analyze the economic issue or event through the tools learned
in the class. For example, if the article is about the increase in U.S. car sales which is tied to
falling gasoline prices, then you would analyze the automobile market in terms of an
increase in demand caused by a decline in the price of a complimentary good (gasoline).
Feel free to pick any economic topic or event that interests you (that is the point) and
be critical in your analysis. If the article states things that are inconsistent with economic
theory, point out the inconsistency. Finally, please attach the article to your summary.