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1. TEACHING ECONOMICS
2. A LENS THROUGH WHICH TO LOOK AT THE WORLD
3. SIMON JOHNSON ARTICLE, THE QUIET COUP
4. STUDENT ANALYSIS OF THE PRESENT ECONOMIC CRISIS USING JOHNSON’S FRAMEWORK AS A KALEIDOSCOPE
Center for International Studies
Summer Teacher Institute
Origins of the Economics course at Lab
Original course: practical economicsstock market
Hard lessons learned as an option trader: size and leverage killsmanaging risk more important than profitunderstanding positions critical
Investing in markets:
Peter Lynch approachNo load index funds
How the AP course came to pass
Stepping into the breach
Renewal
Attributes of a good AP Economics class
Importance of easy to read, accessible texts
“Who feeds Paris?” “Doggie birthday cake”
Let students do the learning:Exeter Harkness Method http://www.exeter.edu/admissions/147_harkness.aspx Inquiry approach—student-led learning
Attributes of good class, con’t.
Economic reasoning:Cost/benefit reasoningOpportunity costsNo free lunch
Outside lecturers:Steve Levitt—story of Paul Feldman
and price elasticity
Elasticity Along a Demand Curve
6-6
Pri
ce
$10987654321
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Quantity
Elasticity declines along demand curve as we move
toward the quantity axis
Ed = 1
Ed = 0
Ed < 1
Ed > 1
Ed = ∞
Elasticity and Total Revenue6-7
A
Pri
ce
Inelastic DemandE < 1
Quantity
$10
8
6
4
2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
TR rises if price increases
C
H
G
Lost revenue
Gained revenue
TRG = $1 x 9 = $9
TRH = $2 x 8 = $16
B
Elasticity and Total Revenue6-8
C
BA
Pri
ce
Elastic DemandE > 1
Quantity
$10
8
6
4
2
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
TR falls if price increases.K
J
Lost revenue
Gained revenue
TRJ = $8 x 2 = $16TRK = $9 x 1 = $9
Attributes of a good class, con’t.
Alan Sanderson—Olympics make no economic sense for Chicago
Graphs to explain ideas
Comparative Advantage and the Combined PPC
2-10
1 2 3 4 5
4
3
2
1
5
Chocolate (in tons)
Text
iles
(in
th
ou
san
ds
of
yard
s)
Belgium
Pakistan
H
F
G
The slope of the combined PPC is determined by the country with the lowest opportunity cost.
The combined PPC has the same slope as Belgium’s PPC from F to H and the same slope as Pakistan’s from H to G.
The combined PPC is the curve connecting points F, H, and G.
The Phillips Curve13-11
Republicans favored contractionary policy that meant high unemployment and low inflation (point B).
Democrats generally favored expansionary policy that meant low unemployment and high inflation (point A).
Infl
ati
on
Unemployment rate
5
4
3
2
1
0 4 5 6 7
A
B
17-12
Lorenz Curve for the U.S. Lorenz Curve for the U.S. 1929, 1970, and 20031929, 1970, and 2003
1970
2003 1929
100%
80
60
40
20
0
Cum
ulat
ive p
erce
ntag
e of
inco
me
20 60 80 100%Cumulative percentage of population
40
Line of absolute equality
Attributes of a good class, con’t.
Changing with the Times: “freshman course won’t be quite the same.”
More prominence to financial system
Consequences of leverageBeyond monetary policyThe future is surprise
Attributes of a good class, con’t.
Challenge basic concepts:the efficient theory of markets
behavioral economists“incredible aberrations”
Attributes of a good class, con’t.
Using Current EventsBusy students don’t follow
economic crisis“Ducks become rabbits”
A lens through which to look at the world
Understanding events in history:concatenationskaleidoscopes
Simon Johnson article, The Quiet Coup
Article as a lens
Seen it all before
Banana Republic—”shockingly reminiscent”
Too much risk in good times…no one will lend money in bad times
Johnson article as kaleidoscope
Some oligarchs must lose—not easy to accomplish:41% of corporate profitsactively prevent reformsmoney to campaigns“cult of finance”
Problem is uncertainty—must respond with “speed and overwhelming force”
“Policy by deal”
Unwilling to challenge financial system
Johnson’s Solution
Nationalize banks—no “velvet glove approach”
Break power of financial oligarchs:revise anti-trust legislationcaps on executive compensationgreater transparencycompetition
Limits to the analogy between emerging markets and the U.S.
Emerging market governments quickly run out of foreign currency when in crisis
United States can pay its debts in its own currency
Student analyses and Johnson article
Has Obama Administration taken on financial oligarchs?
1. Loren Kole: policy towards the banks2. Amy Solomon: new financial regulations3. Jennifer Glick: GM and Chrysler 4. Amelia Acosta-Pacelli: executive compensation5. Danielle Kutasov: similarities between financial crises in emerging markets and that affecting the United States now 6. Sydney Small: health care system
Bibliography
Colander, David C. Microeconomics. 7th ed. Irwin: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
Colander, David C. Macroeconomics. 7th ed. Irwin: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
Levitt Steven D.; and Dubner Stephen J. Freakonomics. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.
Manchester William. A World Lit Only by Fire. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1992.
Mankiw Gregory N. “That Freshman Course Won’t Be Quite the Same.” The New York Times. 24 May 2009.
Bibliography
Nocera Joe. “Poking Holes in a Theory on Markets.” The New York Times. 6 June 2009
Wheelan Charles. naked economics, Undressing the Dismal Science. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.