Find a local company or industry—in Almaty or Kazakhstan or Central Asia--that is of interest to you. It might be a company where a friend of yours works, or an industry you read about in the newspaper. Better yet, do some original research in Almaty’s retail markets. Describe your research—the market or the firm that you have learned about.

Describe a single economic concept that can be applied to your industry, then design questions and exercises that will highlight specific economic observations and analyses.

For example, in his chapter on Monopolistic Competition, Mansfield asks whether a letter written by Adolphus Busch to a competitor is representative of a monopolistically competitive firm. The question forces the student to carefully consider the characteristics of monopolistic competition, to learn about how it is an applicable and realistic model or not.

You might ask similar questions—

• about non-price competition among taxi drivers in Almaty
• about the external costs of Soviet irrigation projects in Western Kazakhstan
• about elasticity of demand for antibiotics at the local pharmacy
• about equilibrium of supply and demand in the flower kiosks on Dostik St.

Design simple questions as well—True-False, matching, graphing exercises. You have been given several more examples from which you might take ideas; but try to be original. Make it fun!