Join us for an exclusive conversation with Greg Mankiw, former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, as he offers a deep dive into the evolving landscape of fiscal policy. Drawing from his experience advising the U.S. administration, Mankiw will provide an insider's perspective on how governments shape and implement fiscal strategies to respond to both short-term challenges and long-term goals Check out the recording and slide deck from the webinar here ... View more

From Grad to Greatness - Your Guide to Successful Teaching   Ryan Herzog and Aisling Winston are seasoned economics instructors with extensive experience in training and mentoring new college instructors and graduate students. They have created valuable resources to help you efficiently and successfully navigate your first teaching assignments. In this one-hour session, you'll learn: How to set and manage course expectations, including defining learning outcomes, evaluating materials, and selecting the right textbook. Strategies for designing inclusive, pedagogically sound course materials, such as syllabi, class outlines, assignments, engaging lectures, and in-class activities. Tips for managing classroom dynamics and adapting to unexpected challenges. How to reflect on your experiences to improve your teaching statement and philosophy. WATCH SESSION NOW! ... View more

Why did the economics instructor join the Tortured Poet's Department? She wanted to put the "verse" in "diverse portfolio"  Catch up on your #Swiftienomics with Macmillan Learning Principles of Economics authors Paul Krugman & Ryan Herzog in celebration of her newest album drop. ... View more

Alex Tabarrok on teaching the Solow Model in Principles… The Solow Model is a very important model for understanding economic growth. But students in introductory economics courses often miss out on this vital theory, leading to significant gaps in their grasp of economic growth. In this session, Alex Tabarrok will discuss how to incorporate the Solow Model into principles classes, a method also reflected in his textbook "Modern Principles of Macroeconomics," co-authored with Tyler Cowen. The Solow model can be made accessible to principles students and fun to teach by focusing on the key ideas. Attendees will learn strategies for effectively conveying the Solow Model to introductory students, ensuring a deeper and more relevant understanding of the dynamics of economic growth.   WATCH SESSION NOW! ... View more

Justin Wolfers & Kevin Milligan: Modern approaches to Business Cycles In this session Wolfers and Milligan will discuss how the macroeconomic model that we inherited from the 1960s no longer works for today's economy or today's students. They will then introduce two modern approaches. The first is to switch the standard model with a method of teaching AD-AS that both reflects the modern economy and links with modern macroeconomics. WATCH SESSION NOW! ... View more

An exclusive article by Paul Krugman Last semester we showed all we can learn about economics from the Eras Tour and its impact on local economies. Taylor Swift's influence doesn't stop with her tour-- the superstar is now having a positive economic impact on the NFL, as this season has benefited from its own Taylor-made love story.  How has Swift’s love for her player impacted the game? Macmillan Learning author Paul Krugman now delves into "Taylor effect" on the NFL to show how Swifties have affected viewership, ticket prices, apparel, and more. The NFL and Taylor Swift: A Love Story Last month, TIME magazine named Taylor Swift its Person of the Year. Whatever you think of that choice, there’s no question that Swift, who has been playing to huge audiences worldwide, is a major cultural phenomenon. She’s also a major economic phenomenon: Not only are her concerts “raking in dollars” directly, they also have visible effects on local economies, as fans flocking to her events spend money on hotel rooms, restaurants and more. And now, Swift even seems to be having a positive impact on the business of professional football, which is seeing increased public interest and viewership thanks to her romance with her “lover” Travis Kelce, a tight end for Kansas City Chiefs. Why should economics students care about Swiftienomics and its impact on the NFL? Even if you aren’t a Swiftie, it’s interesting to examine how a single game attendee has had so much economic impact on the NFL, which is already in its own right a titan in the world of sports. The NFL kicked off its 2023-2024 season without Taylor Swift and her loyal Swifties. Unknown to nearly every NFL owner, player, and fan, they were about to be handed a "Taylor'' made love story. On his popular podcast New Heights, Travis Kelce revealed his botched attempt to slip Swift his phone number on a friendship bracelet while attending her July concert at Arrowhead Stadium, the home of the Chiefs. Kelce was not the lucky one—or so it seemed. Two months later, with rumors flying, Kelce revealed on The Pat McAfee Show, "I threw the ball in her court. I told her, I've seen you rock the stage in Arrowhead; you might have to come see me rock the stage in Arrowhead." Three days later, it appeared that Kelce’s wildest dreams had come true as Swift was spotted in the stands at Arrowhead, alongside Travis's mom. The September 23 game against the Bears was the most-watched game of the week, according to Nielsen Media Research, nearly 24.3 million viewers tuned in, and it was the most-watched event among three key female age groups: 12-17, 18-34, and 18-49. The NFL was flooded with a new following, as Swifties from all over the world started tuning in to see what their icon was wearing, eating, and who she was sitting with in the stands. The following week, Sunday Night Football showcased Taylor Swift, with the Chiefs playing the New York Jets as a secondary act. More than 27 million people watched the October 1 game, up from 22 million viewers over the same weekend the previous year. It's safe to say, more than 5 million people tuned in, not to watch football or hear Taylor sing, but for the possibility of spotting Swift. The "Taylor Effect" was also seen at the stadium. Fans flooded secondary ticket markets, after it was confirmed she would be attending, ticket prices surged 50%. Swifties showed up to the game wearing their friendship bracelets and their Eras Tour shirts-- the football game was only the setting to get a glimpse of the superstar.  Thanks to Swift, the NFL is having a banner year. But Swiftienomics isn’t just benefiting the NFL. Following Swift's appearance at Arrowhead Stadium, Fanatics, the NFL's official e-commerce partner, reported a 400% increase in sales, with new fans buying Kelce's jersey or other Chiefs apparel. Swift has made a habit of showcasing her style in the stands; at recent games, she was spotted sporting vintage apparel or clothing from WEAR by sports reporter Erin Andrews, a trendy women's fan apparel brand. Thanks to Swift, demand for vintage NFL apparel is surging, and many Kansas City items by WEAR are sold out. As Andrews noted in People Magazine, “[Women are] like ‘Well, if Taylor Swift is going to wear it, I’m going to wear it!’” Even New Balance sales increased after Swift wore a pair of 550s to the September 23 game-- in the Chiefs colors, of course.  Travis and his brother Jason's podcast New Heights found a new audience: Swifties hoping to catch the latest news on the budding relationship. By October 2023, the podcast hit #1 on Spotify, overtaking the Joe Rogan Experience. The podcast added more than one million listeners after Swift appeared alongside Donna Kelce, Travis's mother, at her first Chiefs game. In September, Amazon released the documentary Kelce, mostly featuring Jason Kelce, quickly rising to be its most watched documentary. But not every NFL fan is happy with the Swiftmania. Many long-time, die-hard football fans want to see less Swift and more football. Shaking it off, Taylor replied, "I’m there to support Travis. I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and pissing off a few dads, Brads, and Chads.”  Interested in using this article in class? Log into Achieve for Krugman/Wells Economics and you’ll find the article in assignable form alongside presentation slides and assessment questions! If you don’t have an Achieve account you can request access at that link. ... View more

Justin Wolfers: Assigning Homework in a World with ChatGPT Justin Wolfers has been researching ways to use existing resources and new strategies to safeguard the integrity of assessment. In this webinar, he will share his initial discoveries and discuss what the future of assessment might become. WATCH SESSION NOW! ... View more

Achieve is an online learning system that supports students and instructors at every step, from the first point of contact with new content to demonstrating mastery of concepts and skills. Below are brief videos of Achieve’s powerful resources including an integrated e-book, graphing questions with targeted feedback, and a wealth of interactives create an extraordinary learning resource for students. You can watch the videos of the activities you plan to use or learn about new assignments to add to your course. E-Book The Achieve e-book allows students to highlight and take notes; instructors can choose to assign sections of the e-book as part of their course assignments.   LearningCurve With a game-like interface, LearningCurve offers students a low-stakes way to brush up on concepts and help identify knowledge gaps. Questions are linked to relevant e-book sections, providing both the incentive to read and a framework for an efficient reading experience.   Graphing Developed by economists active in the classroom, these multistep questions are adapted from problems found in the text. Each problem is paired with rich feedback for incorrect and correct responses that guide students through the process of problem solving. These questions also feature our user-friendly graphing tool, designed so students focus entirely on economics and not on how to use the application.   Achieve Overview Achieve is a comprehensive set of interconnected teaching and assessment tools. It incorporates the most effective elements from Macmillan’s market-leading solutions in a single, easy-to-use platform. Our resources were co-designed with instructors and students, using a foundation of learning research and rigorous testing.   Achieve Spotlight: Pre-Class Tutorials Pre-class tutorials foster basic understanding of core economic concepts before students ever set foot in class. Students watch pre-lecture videos and complete bridge question assessments that prepare them to engage in class. Instructors receive data about student comprehension that can inform their lecture preparation.   Achieve Spotlight: Assessment  Powered by a robust graphing engine developed by economists active in the classroom, these multistep questions are paired with rich feedback for incorrect and correct responses that guides students through the process of problem solving. Students are asked to demonstrate their understanding by simply clicking, dragging, and dropping a line to a predetermined location. This graphing tool has been designed so that students’ entire focus is on moving the correct curve in the correct direction, virtually eliminating grading issues for instructors.   Achieve Spotlight: Work It Outs These skill-building activities pair sample end-of-chapter problems with targeted feedback and video explanations to help students solve problems step by step. This approach allows students to work independently, tests their comprehension of concepts, and prepares them for class and exams.   Achieve Spotlight: In-Class Activity Guides Each guide is based on a single topic and allows students to participate through questions, group work, presentations, and/or simulations. The guide displays the activity type, estimated prep and class time, implementation instructions, suggestions for remote implementation where applicable, and Learning Objectives and Bloom’s Level for ease of use. Our Instructor Activity Guides encourage engagement from a Pre-Class Reflection question to prime student interest and offer follow-up clicker questions to measure comprehension.   Achieve Spotlight: Stevenson/Wolfers - Decision Point Activities Decision Points activities allow students to explore their own decision-making process and how economic principles and thinking can inform their decisions. Students work step by step through decision-making scenarios, receiving feedback about how economic principles did (or did not) play into their choices. Decision Points help students apply economic insights to their everyday lives.   Achieve Spotlight: Stevenson/Wolfers - Step By Step Graphs Available only in the e-book, step-by-step graphs mirror how an instructor constructs graphs in the classroom. By breaking the process down into its components, these graphs create more manageable “chunks” for students to understand each step of the process.   Achieve Spotlight: Cowen/Tabarrok - MRU Videos MRU features perhaps the most extensive series of economics education videos available. More than 150 of these videos have been deeply integrated into the text and pedagogy of Modern Principles, extending the authors’ perspectives into the online learning space, and providing valuable tools for both instructors and students throughout the learning path.   Achieve Spotlight: Econofacts Memos Macmillan Learning has partnered with EconoFact to bring incisive and accessible analysis of current economic and policy trends into the economics classroom. The EconoFact Network provides even-handed and timely analysis of economic issues drawing on relevant data, historical experience, and well-regarded economic frameworks presented in the form of a short memo. In Achieve, instructors can access in-class activity guides to help integrate the memos into their own lectures. Instructors can also access and assign assessment on each memo that starts with basic reading comprehension and builds up to applying the analytical tools students have learned in their course to the economic or policy issue covered in the memo.   Achieve Spotlight: Discovering Data These exercises require students to use the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED) related to the concepts discussed in the chapter. Students will get practical experience manipulating data by being asked, for example, to track the impact of a sales tax on tobacco sales. In working these problems, students will gain a greater understanding of core concepts while also working with an impressive data resource. ... View more

Market efficiency is perhaps one of the most important topics in any principles course.  Yet the very related concepts of consumer and producer surplus are two of the most difficult topics for students to grasp.  They are difficult because of the high level of abstraction required from students in order to master them; in particular consumer surplus. Yet, it is critical for students to understand these concepts well if they are to understand market efficiency and deadweight loss.  So I usually have one overriding goal when teaching market efficiency to principles students: how can I make the deadweight loss concrete enough for them? The case study of the market for organs (for instance the market for human kidneys), is a great way to achieve this goal.  I usually like to begin the discussion referring to a famous article in the NYTimes describing the now famous (or infamous), auction of a human kidney on ebay. After describing the auction for students, I present the following clicker question to them: Take a guess of how much was the bidding for this auction when e-bay took it down three days after it started: a) 25K b) 100K c) 200K d) 1 million e) More than 1 million Students are always shocked to learn the auction for a kidney had reached almost 6 million in two days! From this point the discussion could go in many different and very interesting directions: Why did ebay took down the auction? Answer: as you know, it is illegal in the U.S. to sell your organs. Why does the U.S. ban the sale of organs? Answer: many possible answers. But, probably the reason has to do more with ethics than with economics.  It is interesting, though, that the sale of blood is not prohibited. Is the market for organs in this country efficient? Clearly not.  Usually the number of donors is way below the number of people waiting for an organ.  In the market for kidneys, the waiting time is about 3.5 years, which is many times longer than what the patient could wait.  The best place to get data on this market is the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.  They offer real time data on the demand and supply data for human organs. What is consumer and producer surplus in the market for kidneys?  What happens to producer surplus when there is no way to legally profit from selling an organ? What can we do to increase the efficiency in this market? What is the deadweight loss in this market?  How does advances in medicine change the deadweight loss in this market? The answer to this last question is what makes this case study fundamentally useful to teach this concept. In this market, deadweight loss is not an abstract idea, but it is actually human lives! ... View more

Tax game (simulation) Students determine tax rates and analyze resulting income distribution. Requires internet access. [inequality, tax structure] With larger classes, can be used as an interactive lecture demonstration, or have students complete the simulation before class.   ... View more

Macrolandia ​ (context-rich problem) Students draw on their understanding of economic growth in order to recommend policies for a developing country. Could be done in-class or assigned as homework and then discussed in class For larger classes, could have students work in groups and/or use clicker questions to solicit responses ... View more

Economies of scale (cooperative learning) Students work in groups to calculate short-run cost curves and then create a long-run average total cost curve. In larger classes, responses to follow-up questions could be collected with clickers.   ... View more

A Prisoner’s Dilemma Classroom Activity with iClickers to Explain Game Theory to Economics Students This is a very simple classroom game I do with my economics students to cover ideas of Nash equilibrium and Prisoner's Dilemma.  It can also show ideas about public goods and externalities.  It is an adaption from Hemenway et al 1987 (see below).  But, it has also been used in different ways by many different instructors.  How to Setup the Prisoner’s Dilemma Classroom Experiment Extra Point Question If everyone chooses to collude, all students get 10 bonus points in final exam If everyone chooses to collude, but one person defect, that person defecting gets 50 bonus points and no other student get any points. If more than 1 person chooses to defect, no student get any points. Allow the students to vote (I use iClicker in my class; but any system would work well). Show students the results. Students are usually very upset when I show the results for the first time.  So I always allow them to play more than one round.  Sometimes in between rounds, I ask them for ideas on how to "solve" the dilemma.  Notice on the video below how the last round students are allowed to switch iClickers, yet the outcome does not change!!! Anyway, it is a great activity because it takes very little effort to prepare, students like it a lot, and it has many points for applications and discussion. Video The video below shows an instance of me playing the game with my students.  On this occasion, I had about 500+ students in the classroom playing the game.  Notice the distribution of the answers after I close the voting (remember, A) is colluding and B) is defect): most students choose to collude, but a few (around 30 or so) choose not to collude.  PPT Slides Dropbox - Slide-for-Game-Theory-Activity.pptx REFERENCES Hemenway, David, Robert Moore, and James Whitney. "The Oligopoly Game." Economic Inquiry, 25, Oct. 1987, pp. 727-730; contains copy for class instructions; moore@oxy.edu ; whitney@oxy.edu  ... View more

Ticket trading (experiment, demonstration) Students are given tickets and asked to report their willingness to pay for their assigned ticket; they are then given an opportunity to trade and willingness to pay is re-calculated. Extensions include restricting and then opening who students can trade with, and allowing students to place monetary bids for certain tickets. For larger classes, can be done with a sub-set of students as a demonstration for the rest of the class. Have students predict what will happen to total social benefit between rounds. Can follow with discussion of allocation mechanisms by asking students for alternative ways to allocate the tickets. Please see Trade Clicker Questions​ document.   ... View more

Trading with comparative and absolute advantage (cooperative learning, experiment) Students are separated into groups, representing different countries, and given worksheets with production information. One country has an absolute advantage in both goods. Groups choose resource allocations to maximize utility and then can trade with the other country. For larger classes, can have multiple groups for each country (just have an equal number of groups for each country) and then pair up groups for trading. There are many variations of this available (for example, see here, and here)   ... View more