Teaching Economics HIS 420 Spring 2010 Scott Fenwick [email protected].
31
Transcript of Teaching Economics HIS 420 Spring 2010 Scott Fenwick [email protected].
UIC’s Center for Economic Education
Dr. Helen Roberts - [email protected]
• http://cee.econ.uic.edu/
Certificate for Teaching Economics
• http://cee.econ.uic.edu/certification.html
• http://cee.econ.uic.edu/undercertification.html
Big Questions…
• Why should we teach economics?• What should we teach?• How should we teach it?• How does teaching economics fit into the
social studies and our vision/goal to build effective citizens?
• What opportunities (think about student outcomes) exist in teaching economics?
• What can history folks bring to the economics classroom?
Our Provocateur: Michael Moore
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)
http://www.michaelmoore.com/books-films/capitalism-love-story
Capitalism: A Love Story Discussion Questions
• So, what is capitalism? Do we Americans truly understand it as an economic system in the abstract?
• Can Democracy exist with or without capitalism? Do we Americans conflate the two ideas without realizing it? If yes, what are the costs/benefits of doing so?
• The Bread Co. and Isthmus – is this Capitalism? Why don’t we see more businesses like this?
• Professor Black – do those who choose finance on Wall Street really make the world worse?
Four Approaches to Teaching Economics
• Financial Literacy
• Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics
• Microeconomic Principles
• Macroeconomic Principles
Financial Literacy
• National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) High School Financial Planning Program http://hsfpp.nefe.org/
• Council for Economic Education’s Financial Fitness for Life http://fffl.councilforeconed.org/
Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics
• Why? Because students need context in order to better understand abstract ideas and phenomena.
• How? Economic History, Biography, Primary Documents
Who are these guys?
Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics
• New Ideas From Dead Economists by Todd G. Buchholz
• The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L. Heilbroner
Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics
• Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed
• An Empire of Wealth by John Steele Gordon
Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics
• The Literary Book of Economics by M. Watts
Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics
• Examples of Primary Documents:– The Muqaddimah by I. Khaldun– The Wealth of Nations by A. Smith– An Essay on the Principle of Population by T.
Malthus– Das Kapital by K. Marx– Principles of Economics by A. Marshall– The General Theory of Employment, Interest
and Money by J.M. Keynes– Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp by
R. A. Radford
Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics
Fear the Boom and Bust: John Maynard Keynes
vs.
Friedrich August Von Hayek
http://econstories.tv/home.html
Microeconomic Principles
• Choice, Trade-offs & Decision Making• Opportunity Cost & Comparative Advantage• Supply & Demand• Consumer & Producer Surplus• Elasticity• Taxes• Consumer Preference – Utility• Production Decisions• Market Structures
Microeconomic Principles
-Photo Elicitation Activity-
Introduction to Economic Principles: Essential Concepts
Macroeconomic Principles
• Gains From International Trade• Aggregate Supply & Demand• GDP: Measuring Production and Income• Unemployment & Inflation• Economic Growth & Business Cycles• Monetary Policy• Fiscal Policy• Globalization & the International Financial
System
Macroeconomic Principles
-“Active Learning” Game-
The Gains From Trade
Resources: Books and Supplementary Readings
• Popular Press/Trade Paperbacks
• Textbooks & Workbooks
• Periodicals
• Blogs
Resources: Books and Supplementary Readings
• Popular Press/Trade Paperbacks– Freakonomics by S. Levitt & S. Dubner– Superfreakonomics by S. Levitt & S. Dubner– Nudge by R. Thaler & C. Sunstein– The Economic Naturalist by R. Frank– The End of Poverty by J. Sachs– Naked Economics by C. Wheelan– The Armchair Economist by S. Landsburg– Too Big to Fail by A.R. Sorkin
Resources: Books and Supplementary Readings
• Popular Press/Trade Paperbacks cont.– The Divine Right of Capital by M. Kelly– Shock Doctrine by N. Klein– The Truth About Markets by J. Kay– Financial Shock by M. Zandi– The Great Unraveling by P. Krugman– The Field Guide to the U.S. Economy by J. Teller-
Elsberg, et al.– The Cartoon Guide to Economics Vol. 1:
Microeconomics by G. Klein & Y. Bauman
Resources: Books and Supplementary Readings
• Textbooks and Workbooks– Economics by Example by D. Anderson– Discussing Economics by M. Salemi and W.L.
Hansen– Contemporary Economics by W. McEachern– Econ Alive! The Power to Choose by TCI
• http://www.teachtci.com/programs/high/ea-power-choose
Resources: Books and Supplementary Readings
• Textbooks and Workbooks cont.– Focus: High School Economics by NCEE– United States History: Eyes on the Economy,
vols. 1&2 by NCEE– Mathematics and Economics: Connections for
Life, grades 9-12
http://www.councilforeconed.org/
http://store.councilforeconed.org/
Resources: Books and Supplementary Readings
• Periodicals– Wall Street Journal & WSJ Classroom Edition
• http://www.wsjclassroomedition.com/cre/index.html
– The Economist• http://www.economist.com
– New York Times Opinion Pages• http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html
Resources: Books and Supplementary Readings
• Periodicals cont.– New Yorker’s Financial Page by James
Surowiecki• http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/04/1
2/100412ta_talk_surowiecki
– Consumer Reports• http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm
Resources: Books and Supplementary Readings
• Blogs– Wall Street Journal’s Top 25 Econ Blogs
• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124768581740247061.html
– Seeking Alpha’s Economics Blog Resource Page• http://seekingalpha.com/article/3070-the-economics-blogs-
resource-page
– Powell Center for Economic Literacy Blog by Timothy Schilling
• http://valuingeconomics.blogspot.com/
Other Resources
• National Public Radio and American Public Media’s Marketplace & Marketplace Moneyhttp://marketplace.publicradio.org
• Yoram Bauman: The Stand-Up Economisthttp://www.standupeconomist.com/
Other Resources
• NCEE’s Virtual Economics DVDhttp://ve.councilforeconed.org/
• Econ Ed Linkhttp://www.econedlink.org/
Other Resources
• The Federal Reserve’s Educational Materials– http://www.federalreserveeducation.org/
FRED/?CFID=5414555&CFTOKEN=88536688
– http://www.stlouisfed.org/education_resources/
Other Resources
• Teaching Economics As If People Mattered– an “alternative” curriculum?– http://teachingeconomics.org/
HIS 420 Economics Wiki
http://his420teachingeconomics.wikispaces.com
/
- Please make contributions and comments!
- Together, we can make a great resource!
