The research paper should be 5-10 pages (double-spaced). It can be on any topic raised during the semester and can focus on a particular city, time period, issue or concept. Some ideas: residential segregation; gentrification; shifting employment patterns by industry or occupation; income growth in some cities compared to others; historical developments in a particular city (or cities) during an interesting time period. You can look at the reading list in the syllabus as a point of departure.
Here are some resources from the syllabus:
Bureau of Economic Analysis. www.bea.gov (Links to an external site.)
Bureau of Labor Statistics. www.bls.gov (Links to an external site.)
Census Bureau. www.census.gov (Links to an external site.)
Center for Economic and Policy Research. www.cepr.net (Links to an external site.)
Economic Policy Institute. www.epi.org (Links to an external site.)
NYU Furman Center www.furmancenter.org/ (Links to an external site.)
Urban Institute. http://www.urban.org/ (Links to an external site.)
F.R.E.D. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/