You can write your research about social problems where the free markets are not allowed to function, which includes the market for a particular illegal good and service, a regulated market, etc. Select a social problem where free markets are not allowed to function, and conduct research on the social problem. Describe how free market features could be introduced to help alleviate the social problem through free market operations of supply and demand. Discuss the risks of introducing market mechanisms of supply and demand in situations where ethical issues are present. Topics I suggest you avoid: Some students have written about sex trafficking or human trafficking lately, which is a problem people have become attuned to in recent years. For several reasons, I have seen a lot of confusion where students choose this as a topic, and frankly, it’s probably best that you choose something else. Less common are papers about abortion. This, too, is one of those areas where student papers tend to get tied in knots philosophically, and I urge you to avoid that topic as well. Also, a few students have written about problems with administering some government program, like welfare programs. But welfare programs are not a “market.” Welfare recipients are not being traded as a good or service.
