Economics students have a wide variety of topic ideas regarding transportation.
The U.S. Department of Transportation outlines several strategies for 2011, including reduced congestion and increasing environmental stewardship. Accomplishing these goals at the state and national level requires economic considerations, including staying competitive in a global auto market, providing energy-efficient transportation and passing legislation promoting these goals. Such considerations provide economics students with a wide array of term paper ideas.
Automobile Protectionist Policies
The United States implements many protectionist regulations that make imported cars like Toyotas and Hondas more expensive than American-built cars, like Fords and Chevys: steel tariffs and import taxes are just two examples. However, whether these trade measures are beneficial and to whom is questionable. Robert J. Carbaugh, author of the textbook "International Economics," explains that such steel tariffs save roughly 6,000 American jobs, but cost U.S. consumers and firms between $800,000 and $1.1 million per job.
Thus, your term paper could discuss what effects these regulations have on the consumer, importers and exporters, and what dead loss weight is generated from these policies. The term paper should also include a proposal about how the government should lift or enforce these trade regulations.
Light Rail Public Transportation
Many urban cities are installing light rails. Though the issue of installing light rails is discussed in terms of the environmental impact, economic considerations must be weighed. In the term paper, create a simple model explaining the most cost-efficient method of implementing this mode of transportation. Discuss the high fixed costs of installing a light rail, like laying tracks, buying trains and installing electric poles. Weigh these high up-front costs with reduced variable costs like lower electricity per month than standard trains. Not all cities should install light rails: sprawling cities with few dense urban areas are unlikely candidates for this method of transportation. In your paper, mention what factors make your city a good (or bad) candidate for a light rail.
Additionally, cities install light rails with the long-term hopes of making a profit from ticket sales. Explain at what price the city should set tickets, how often trains should run and when the city should expect to see a rate of return on its investment.
Cash for Clunkers
Analyze the impacts of the "Cash for Clunkers" program in your economics term paper. President Barack Obama passed "Cash for Clunkers" in May of 2009 with the following goals in mind: improving carbon emissions, stimulating consumer spending in a down-turn economy, and boosting auto sales. In exchange for destroying their "gas guzzling" cars, consumers receive a rebate of up to $4,500 toward the purchase of a new energy-efficient vehicle. In terms of stimulating consumer spending, the program was such a resounding success in the U.S. that the European Union modeled a similar program.
In your paper, mention other factors that mitigate the success of the program. Include the cost of destroying the turned-in cars, the rebate costs to the government and the increase in emissions as consumers willingly put more miles on a new, energy-efficient car. Then, explain if the costs of the program outweigh the benefits.
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