Eugene S. Thrope Writing Competition

Essays should address:

The conventional wisdom says the 1999-2006 residential real estate “bubble” in the U.S. and the subsequent collapse of global financial markets were caused by a failure of the free market. What’s wrong with that assertion?

Essays must written in English and be no more than 2,000 words. Essays should be titled and must be double-spaced in 12-point type (preferably Times New Roman) and should follow standard essay format. Nonfiction only. Citations should be integrated into the text. No endnotes or bibliographies. When citing a web-based article or work, the author must be careful to ensure the accuracy of the link.

Each entrant may submit only one essay. The submission must be the original work of the entrant and must not have been previously published or submitted for publication. All submissions must be received by the Foundation for Economic Education by 12 midnight (EDT) on November 1, 2009.

Essays must be e-mailed as a Microsoft Word document or Adobe PDF attachment to essaycontest@fee.org. The accompanying e-mail must include the entrant’s full name, home address, and phone number only—and no additional text. The name of the writer must not appear anywhere in the attached essay file. FEE will acknowledge receipt of entries by an automatic e-mail response.

Essays with one or two authors are welcomed. In the case of co-authors, entrants should provide the full names, addresses, and phone numbers of both authors in the submission e-mail.

To assure anonymity, the entrant’s name must not appear on any part of the essay. The writer shall identify himself or herself only in the text of the e-mail submission. FEE will assign each entry a unique code. Judges will evaluate essays without knowledge of the entrant’s identity and select the winner on the basis of readability, clarity, organization, originality, and how the essay addresses the topic statement. The judges’ decision will be announced by December 31, 2009. (Judges reserve the right not to award the prize.)