IDENTIFYING ECONOMIC CONCEPTS IN THE NEWS
PURPOSE:
To demonstrate the ability to distinguish between
positive and normative economic statements when
examining economics news stories, and to practise some of
the skills necessary for the end of unit Performance Task.
TASK:
Scan a newspaper to find three examples of positive economic statements and three examples of normative
economic statements. THE ARTICLE MUST HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN THE LAST 3 MONTHS.
Highlight the positive statements in one colour and the normative statements in another colour.
In a folder with the articles, submit the following three pieces of writing:
 A list of the newspaper articles using the appropriate MLA Style citation for each. Appropriate
style is MLA7. Use EasyBib to create your citations. The link is on YMwiki.
 A short paragraph explaining the concept of positive economics in your own words, using the 3
highlighted statements as examples, explaining how each statement fits the definition. At least
one of the statements must be CONDITIONAL and one of the statements must be
DESCRIPTIVE. The third statement can be either.
 A short paragraph explaining the concept of normative economics in your own words, using the 3
highlighted statements as examples, explaining how each statement fits the definition.
*** For each of the paragraphs, be sure to start with a clear topic sentence in which the concept is
identified and the fact that evidence of that type of economic approach can be seen in the news.
You should then explain how one would recognize the type of statement that the paragraph is
about. You can then explain how the quotes you have chosen are good examples of this type of
economic statement. Finally finish with a concluding sentence that mirrors the topic sentence. An
exemplar is on the YMwiki.
MLA STYLE CITATIONS:
Make sure you use embedded citations as described in the green “Student Research Guide”
available in the library or online as a PDF file (See link on the virtual classroom website).
TIPS:
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Look for releases of economic information by Statistics Canada. The economic information is an
example of positive economics, while statements about what the government should do in
response to this information is often normative economics.
Be careful about identifying predictive statements as normative. For example, a statement that
“the stock market should go up next year if the interest rates remain low” is not normative even
though it appears to be an opinion. This is because a normative statement is one that is about
“policy”. Something should, or should not, be because it is good or bad. Therefore a statement
like “the Bank of Canada should decrease interest rates in order to drive the stock market up next
year” is a normative statement.
Look for opinion pieces in the editorial section and the business section. Often these contain
opinions about economic policy and can be used to demonstrate the difference between normative
and positive economics.