I would suggest you approach this project in stages.
This is the exploratory phase. You need to find a theory/economist you find interesting, and a current event you find interesting. Gale Biography in Context is a great place for basic information on economists and their theories. You can also use a basic encyclopedia like Britannica. These sources won't go in your final paper, most likely, but they will ground your research and help you build up to more academic resources.
Now you can collect information about the context surrounding your event. I'd suggest newspaper resources like The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times. You can pull articles that provide basic facts, as well as essays or opinion pieces--but be aware of the author's expertise and potential bias. Only use opinion pieces by reputable economists or journalists.
It's time to head over to JSTOR or Academic Search Premiere to look for academic journal articles and book chapters. If you're very lucky, you will find articles that include mention of both your theory and your event--try searching for them both using basic key terms. But it's possible that you will be the first scholar to try this line of thought! If that's the case, you will have to search for your theory and your event separately (still using basic search terms). The challenge will be to extrapolate from these sources and combine them to create some kind of argument.
Information on advanced databases is organized by key word (subject, terms). Academic Search Premiere makes it easy to use this form of organization to find additional resources.
Type in a general term, then skim through your search results. Check out the related subjects and click those links to find more articles. You can also filter by a term if you need more specificity. This can take you to some interesting places and sources that you might not have found on your own!
See how the related subjects are much more specific? These terms can really guide your research. Let the search engine work for you instead of coming up with your own terms!
Part 1: Background Information:
Stage 2: Understanding the Event/Context
Database of modern and historical newspapers. Barcode: empirelink
Stage 3: Academic Sources
One of the best and most popular academic databases. You will use JSTOR in college, so why not get used to it know?
Especially good for humanities research. On campus use only, no password required.