Guide to Writing an Argumentative Essay in Economics: Ultimate Helper

What is an Argumentative Essay in Economics?

The argumentative essay is a piece of writing that requires you to conduct thorough research on a particular topic and then present a clear position regarding this topic, while backing it with enough supporting evidence. The main aim of the argumentative essay is to convince the target audience to agree with your idea or opinion. However, it is of vital importance to support your viewpoint using research-based evidence as it is a fundamental component of this type of essay. What is more, you can choose from a variety of fields to write your argumentative essay. One of such fields that incorporates a wide range of topics to choose from is economics. At the same time, argumentative essays in economics tend to cover various topics and concepts. In order to write an excellent argumentative essay in economics, you should specifically present your own standpoint regarding a given issue.

Choosing a Topic for an Argumentative Essay in Economics

First of all, before starting working on an essay in economics, you should choose the topic that you are passionate about. By doing so, you will be able to provide well-developed arguments on a given matter. At the same time, the area of economics incorporates an enormous amount of concepts and topics that could be chosen for an essay. Thus, in order to facilitate the process of choosing the topic, you have to narrow down the broadness of the topic and focus on particular sides of it. This could be done by directly approaching your instructor and asking what topic should or can be covered. However, sometimes you will not be assigned to any topic, and you will have to come up with your own. In such cases, it is advised to choose such a topic that covers an important economic issue and can be thoroughly researched. What is more, by conducting research, you will gain a deep insight into the topic, which will enable you to examine it from various perspectives. Lastly, you will be able to choose the most compelling argument for your essay.

Undoubtedly, the area of economics encompasses a huge variety of theories, concepts, and issues. Generally speaking, topics in economics could be divided into three distinctive types:

• The first one concerns describing and explaining fundamental economic theories.
• The second type of topics relates to researching and analyzing a particular economic issue or case study.
• The last type is comprised of topics that tend to test certain economic models in practice.

Taking into consideration the aforementioned types, you can focus on one particular group of topics to come up with the most suitable topic. It is also recommended to cover such topics that relate to the current issues in the world economy. Keep in mind that in most cases, such topics have a better chance to appeal to the reading audience.
The examples of topics for your argumentative essay in economics could be the following:

• Advantages and Disadvantages of Cost-Benefit Analysis;
• The Gender Wage Gap in the USA;
• 2008 Financial Crisis: Why It Can Happen Again;
• The Future of The GDP Growth Rate in The US;
• The Impact of Terroristic Attacks on the Global Economy;
• The Adoption of Protectionist and Free-Trade Policies;
• The Role of the Stock Market in Economic Growth;
• The Absence of Real Wage Growth Despite Strong Productivity Gains;
• The Profitability of Waste Recycle;
• The Phenomenon of Housing Bubble and its Impact on the Economy.

Pre-Writing Tips

Undoubtedly, essay writing is hard. What is more, writing an essay in economics might turn out to be a real challenge. However, in order to facilitate the process of writing, you can follow a set of simple pre-writing tips. In fact, the pre-writing stage starts with a full understanding of the assignment given to you. Usually, you will be assigned with the questions or the topic for your argumentative essay by your instructor. In such cases, you can consult him/her if you feel that you do not fully understand the question. Next, read the question carefully and analyze it. It is critical that you fully comprehend what you are being asked and try to keep it in your mind throughout. Then, select the most essential point from the question and underline it. In most cases, you will find this point to be the main foundation for your argument. In addition, consider the fact that you have to write an argumentative essay, meaning that you should present your perspective and viewpoint on the given matter while trying to convince the reading audience with the validity of your arguments.

Next, after you decided on your topic and understood the assignment, it is essential that you do thorough research in order to gain enough supporting evidence for your claims. Simply stating something does not make it a fact, so make sure that you have enough specific data and statistics to back your arguments. In order to find supporting evidence, consult any reading lists and economics books you have. If you struggle to find any reading material, you can always ask your instructor. Besides, you can always surf the Internet in order to find material for your essay. For example, you can search through various scientific databases such as Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, DOAJ, and many others to find articles in economics which you can use in your essay. The more scientific evidence you have, the better your argumentative essay will be.

Then, based on your argument, you can develop your thesis statement. Doing it before writing the essay itself will help you structure the body of your essay easier. After thinking about the question and doing enough research, you can outline your essay. By planning your essay, you will stay focused on your key points while your essay will have a logical and clear flow. After structuring your essay, make sure to appropriately allocate your time. By doing so, you will not have to write all the essay right before the deadline. It is much easier to divide the process of writing into separate parts that can be done individually. As a result, you will be able to write an excellent argumentative essay in economics.

Structure of an Argumentative Essay in Economics

An argumentative essay has the same features as the other types of essay, and it complies with the standard form of an academic essay. As a result, your argumentative economic essay should have three main parts: introduction, main body, and conclusion. In most cases, the argumentative essay can be written using five-paragraph approach. However, in case you are writing a longer essay, it is advised to divide the main body into different sections. Given the word limit, you should allocate yourself a rough number of words for each section as it will help you during your writing process.

Introduction

The introductory paragraph of your argumentative essay in economics should contain a clear outline of your main argument. What is more, in this paragraph, you should introduce the audience a particular issue in such a way that will captivate their attention. Thus, in order to grab the reader’s attention, you can use hook sentences that will keep them reading. For example, if you are writing about the 2008 Financial Crisis, you should introduce an issue in such a way that it was not done before you. On the contrary, you can make a controversial argument regarding the topic. That way, you will be able to appeal to the reader while making sure to convince him or her to agree with your standpoint. Do not forget that the main task of an argumentative essay is to persuade someone.

At the same time, the most important part of the introduction is definitely a thesis statement. In most cases, a thesis statement will occur at the end of your introductory paragraph. Make sure to write a clear, concise, and defined thesis as it serves as a guide for your essay. In addition, it should state your position on the particular issue while the main body paragraphs of your essay contain research-based information to support your claims.
For instance, let’s look at the following thesis statement:

‘Thus, I think, there is a possibility that the 2008 financial crisis can reoccur’.
Such a thesis statement is too generic and does not contain any supporting evidence for your argument. On the contrary, the following example can be used in your economics argumentative paper:
‘Despite the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department efforts to stabilize the financial state after the 2008 financial crisis, the global economic recession can reoccur due to the ineffective work of the U.S. government and tense relations between the countries around the globe.’
Such a thesis statement contains supporting claims for the argument. What is more, it clearly indicates the structure of your essay as each of the claims can be discussed in separate body paragraphs. Therefore, such a thesis statement can serve as an example for the argumentative essay in economics.

Body Paragraphs

The body of your essay is where you will illustrate your argument backed with the supporting evidence. It is essential that each body paragraph contains only one main idea. If you mix several ideas in one paragraph, it will definitely worsen the reading experience. At the same time, try to begin each paragraph with a topic sentence that outlines what the paragraph will cover. Most importantly, each of the paragraph opening sentences should be supported by the evidence that you gathered during your research on the topic. Make sure that you use only relevant information from credible sources. Besides, do not forget to cite properly.

However, you should explain why your audience should agree with you. Make your argument even stronger by stating opposing points of view and refuting those points. Argumentative essays usually consider different points of view regarding a particular issue. In most cases, you should provide one or more opposing views on the topic in order to convince the reader. Try to acknowledge other standpoints and refute them with facts, quotes, or simply logic. By examining the issue from various viewpoints, you will be guaranteed to write a more appealing economics argumentative essay.

Conclusion

In general, the conclusion paragraph summarizes everything that was written in your essay. The most distinctive feature is that in the conclusive paragraph, you should restate your thesis in the first sentence. By doing so, you will show the audience that you have definitely proven your argument because when information is presented to an audience with confidence, people are inclined to believe that something is, in fact, true and they agree with it. Additionally, in this paragraph, you should briefly summarize and synthesize the information presented in your whole essay. However, be careful and do not introduce any new information in the conclusion paragraph. What is more, the conclusion is the last instance where you can assure the audience to agree with your point of view. Thus, try to restate why the topic is important and why your argument is better than the others by reviewing the main claims presented in the body paragraphs. In addition, you can include a short discussion for further research on the given topic.

Post-Writing Tips

Once you have written your argumentative economics essay, you have to start proofreading and revising your essay for any grammar, punctuation, or stylistic errors. Be sure to properly cite all the sources that you have used in your essay and place them in the alphabetical order. What is more, do not forget to check whether all the sources are academic and credible.
However, you have to know the difference between proofreading and revising. Proofreading involves you making any corrections, typos, or grammar or spelling errors. In general, the process of proofreading is done only on the sentence level. At the same time, revising requires you to make any improvements to all the aspects of the essay, starting from the thesis and finishing with the conclusion. Usually, revising involves making major changes to the essay.
What is more, while revising your essay, try to analyze all the components of the paper. Check whether your thesis statement has a compelling argument. Then, make sure that you have addressed all the claims in the thesis in the following body paragraphs. Finally, evaluate the cohesiveness and flow of your essay. A good idea will be to read your essay aloud. By doing so, you will immediately hear what needs to be changed. All in all, you will get economics homework help from experts, – these tips will help you in writing such an argumentative essay in economics that will impress your reading audience.

Works Cited
“Argumentative Essays”. Purdue Writing Lab, https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/essay_writing/argumentative_essays.html.
Kearney, Virginia. “How To Write An Argumentative Essay Step By Step”. Owlcation, 2019, https://owlcation.com/academia/How-to-Write-an-Argument-Essay.
“Prewriting And Outlining”. Umuc.Edu, https://www.umuc.edu/current-students/learning-resources/writing-center/writing-resources/getting-started-writing/prewriting-and-outlining.cfm.