Capitalism on the Pandemic
Option 1: Business and the Pandemic Write a paper of about 2,000 words in response to the question, How can the history of capitalism explain the American response to the COVID-19 pandemic? Make detailed reference to at least six readings from four modules of the class. Hints: Remember to have a thesis. That is still important even though this question does not force you to pick a side. But identify four or five key points to summarize in the first paragraph and then explain in detail through the rest of the paper. For each of your main points you need to do two different things to properly answer the question. First, explain an important feature of the American response to the pandemic. Then draw on the course readings and/or additional historical sources to explain why the US responded in that way. The papers from the last module give you a start on identifying important features of the US response to the pandemic, but you should find some other sources of your own to draw on. For the parts of the paper when you explain those features from a historical viewpoint, you MUST use assigned course readings. As with the other papers, finding additional historical sources (such as journal articles) will get additional credit but is not a substitute from showing knowledge of the course readings. I have attached a .zip file of a bunch of readings from the class. I can provide more, but these should do I think.