Economics of Land and Water

Your readings this week will discuss the economic allocation and concerns surrounding a variety of natural resource ecosystems. For this assignment you are to construct a paper of at least four pages in length that addresses many of the concerns surrounding these resources. You should spend about a page covering each of the following four topics:

1. Water (Chapter 9)
2. Land (Chapter 10)
3. Agriculture (Chapter 11)
4. Forests (Chapter 12)

For each, you should begin with a discussion surrounding the current use dynamics and the potential of future scarcity based on a brief economic analysis. Then, you should discuss the allocation of each resource and any inefficiencies that may be present in this allocation. Finally, suggest some possible solutions to reduce or eliminate these inefficiencies.

Your paper should include an introduction with a developed thesis statement to set up the paper, as well as a concluding paragraph that sums up your discussion. Additionally, your assignment must be at least four double-spaced pages in length (excluding the title and reference page) and be formatted according to APA (6th ed.) style as outlined in the approved APA style guide. You must use your text and at least four additional scholarly sources to provide sufficient detail of the topics listed above. For information regarding APA, including samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, located within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar, in your online course.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.