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The Financial LiteracyInstitute
January 22
&
January 23, 2008
Top Ten Economist Valentines
10. “You raise my interest rate 30 basis points without a corresponding dropoff in consumer enthusiasm”
9. “Despite a decade of inflation, I still dig your supply curve”
8. “What do you say we remeasure our cross-elasticity?”
Top Ten Economist Valentines
7. “You bring the butter, I’ll bring the gun”
6. “We can make beautiful music – and reach equilibrium – together”
5. “Further stimulus could result in uncontrolled expansion”
4. “Tell me whether my expectations are rational”
Top Ten Economist Valentines
3. “Let’s assume that we have a ritzy hotel room and a bottle of wine”
2. “You stoke the animal spirits of my market”
1. “A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou beside me watching the S&P 500”
Joke Set-Up:
A woman hears from her doctor that she has only half a year to live. Her doctor her tells here to marry an economist and move to Scranton, PA.
The woman asks: “Will this cure my illness?”
The punch line:
The doctor responds: “No, but the half year will seem pretty
long.”
The Set-up
Told by John Kenneth Galbraith about himself
As a boy he lived on a farm in Canada. On the farm next to his there lived a girl he was fond of. One day they sat together near a cattle pen and watched as a cow and a bull were…”getting together”
The Set-up (continued)
Galbraith turned to the girl and said (with a suggestive look)
“Gee, that looks like it would be fun”
The Punch line:
She replied: “Well…she’s your cow.”
The First Law of Economists
“For every economist, there exists an equal and opposite economist.”
The Second Law of Economists:
They’re both wrong
From the Hennie Youngman School:
Two economists are walking down the street. One sees a dollar bill lying on the sidewalk and says so.
The second responds: “No…if there were, someone would have
picked it up.”
And finally….
They say that Christopher Columbus was the first economist.
When he left to discover America, he didn’t know where we was going and when he got there he didn’t know where he was.
And it was all done on a government grant.
Background
Purpose – to increase the financial literacy of students & to develop a skilled workforce for a growing financial services sector in NEPA
Method – teacher training via use of proven materials and classroom/online instruction
Sponsors
Financial support –• Wall Street West/WIRED
• National Council on Economic Education
• Tom Hesser Chevrolet and BMW
Sponsor Institutions• Misericordia University & The University of
Scranton
Additional Instruction
On-line learning over a 4 month period Review of results from spring Stock
Market Game Final session – including evaluation
Financial Fitness for Life
Materials include• Teacher Guide (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12)
• Student Workouts
• Parents’ Guide
Financial Fitness for Life
Grades 9-12 22 lessons Grades 6-8 17 lessons 5 Themes – common to both
• 1: TNSTAAFL
• 2: Education Pays Off: Learn Something
• 3: Tomorrow’s Money: Getting to the End of the Rainbow
• 4: Spending and Credit are Serious Business
• 5: Get a Plan: Get a Grip on Life
Financial Fitness for Life
Foundation – learning to be a bricklayer The Economic Way of Thinking Decision Making
The Economic Way of Thinking
The Handy Dandy Guide 1. People Choose We always have choices Resources are scarce Economics: OR ? – Why do kids think that money grows
on trees?
The Economic Way of Thinking
2. All choices involve costs. Choices come with costs There is an opportunity cost for each
choice• Subjective
• May not be monetary
• Example – baseball in Chicago
The Economic Way of Thinking
3. People respond to incentives in predictable ways.
Incentive – benefit or cost that influences a decision. Example – money
Most decisions are made “at the margin” ? Is it rational to cheat?
The Economic Way of Thinking
4. People create economic systems that influence choice and incentives.
In the U.S. – we rely on markets, choices and incentives
Main alternative – command economy
Example
From the Cuban Constitution Article 5 – The Communist party is to
lead society in the construction of a socialist and eventually communist economy and political state
Article 14 – The government, not individuals, owns the means of production
Cuban Constitution (Continued)
Article 15 – The government, not individuals, owns the land and all enterprises.
Article 16 – The government, not individuals, makes basic economic decisions
Market Economy
1 Private ownership of resources 2 Free enterprise 3 Self-interest motives 4 Competition 5 Markets and prices
The Economic Way of Thinking
5. People gain when they trade voluntarily.
Trade is mutually beneficial – “not a zero sum game”
Digression – what about those lousy baseball deals?
The Economic Way of Thinking
6. People’s choices have consequences for the future.
Saving, investing and conserving – result in a higher standard of living in the future
No saving, investing = no growth
Decision Making
There is no such thing as a free lunch A wise decision weighs benefits and
costs Scarcity – results from limited resources,
unlimited wants Resources include – human, natural,
capital, entrepreneurial
See “Questions” from FFL p. 12
Personal Decision Making – similar to Exercise 3.2 p. 13
See the Decision making grid Step 1 – Define the problem Step 2 – List the alternatives Step 3 – Identify the Criteria (rules) Step 4 – Evaluate the alternatives (“+” or
“-” OR numerical scores) Step 5 – Make a decision
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