Teaching Economics

1. Teaching Economics HIS 420 Spring 2010 Scott Fenwick rsfenwick2@gmail.com

2. UIC’s Center for Economic Education Dr. Helen Roberts - hroberts@uic.edu • http://cee.econ.uic.edu/ Certificate for Teaching Economics • http://cee.econ.uic.edu/certification.html • http://cee.econ.uic.edu/undercertification.html

3. 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?

4. Our Provocateur: Michael Moore Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) http://www.michaelmoore.com/books-films/capitalism-love-story

5. 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?

6. Four Approaches to Teaching Economics • Financial Literacy • Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics • Microeconomic Principles • Macroeconomic Principles

7. 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/

8. 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

9. Who are these guys?

10. Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics • New Ideas From Dead Economists by Todd G. Buchholz • The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L. Heilbroner

11. Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics • Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed • An Empire of Wealth by John Steele Gordon

12. Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics • The Literary Book of Economics by M. Watts

13. 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

14. Historical/Philosophical Foundations of Economics Fear the Boom and Bust: John Maynard Keynes vs. Friedrich August Von Hayek http://econstories.tv/home.html

15. 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

16. Microeconomic Principles -Photo Elicitation Activity- Introduction to Economic Principles: Essential Concepts

17. 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

18. Macroeconomic Principles -“Active Learning” Game- The Gains From Trade

19. Resources: Books and Supplementary Readings • Popular Press/Trade Paperbacks • Textbooks & Workbooks • Periodicals • Blogs

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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/

24. 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

25. Resources: Books and Supplementary Readings • Periodicals cont. • New Yorker’s Financial Page by James Surowiecki • http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/04/12/100412ta_talk_surowiecki • Consumer Reports • http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm

26. 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/

27. Other Resources • National Public Radio and American Public Media’s Marketplace & Marketplace Money http://marketplace.publicradio.org • Yoram Bauman: The Stand-Up Economist http://www.standupeconomist.com/

28. Other Resources • NCEE’s Virtual Economics DVD http://ve.councilforeconed.org/ • Econ Ed Link http://www.econedlink.org/

29. Other Resources • The Federal Reserve’s Educational Materials • http://www.federalreserveeducation.org/FRED/?CFID=5414555&CFTOKEN=88536688 • http://www.stlouisfed.org/education_resources/

30. Other Resources • Teaching Economics As If People Mattered • an “alternative” curriculum? • http://teachingeconomics.org/

31. HIS 420 Economics Wiki http://his420teachingeconomics.wikispaces.com/ - Please make contributions and comments! - Together, we can make a great resource!