From today's inbox:

Your students could win a lot -- and learn a lot -- through the 2007 APEE Essay Contest on the Benefits of a Free Market Economy. Open to all full-time students 25 years old or under, this contest can motivate your students to better understand markets.

The author of the winning essay receives $2,500; the second prize is $2,000; and the third is $1,500. Up to ten others can receive honorable mentions of $250 each.

Students can choose from three topics:

*What Causes Prosperity?
*What Is the Role of Ethical Behavior in a Free Market?
*Can Markets Protect the Environment?

Examples of previous winners are on the APEE Web site, as are sources of background for the essays.

The deadline is December 1, 2007, so alert your students now and remind them later. Winners of the contest, which is sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, will be announced February 15, 2008.

You can fit this essay into your classroom teaching. Some faculty have made it a classroom assignment. Houghton College held a contest for its own students, with the best essays submitted to the national contest. And Jim Gwartney and his associates have incorporated it into their Common Sense Economics syllabus, which is based on the book Common Sense Economics by APEE members Jim Gwartney, Richard Stroup, and Dwight Lee.

Have fun -- and feel free to contact me (shaw@popecenter.org) if you have questions.

Best regards,

Jane S. Shaw
Executive Vice President
J.W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy
200 W. Morgan St.
Raleigh NC 27601
919-532-3600
Fax:919-532-0679