Teaching Economics
HIS 420
Summer 2010
Scott Fenwick
rsfenwick2@gmail.com
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.ht
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Big Questions…
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Why should we teach economics?
What should we teach?
How should we teach it?
How does teaching economics fit into a social
studies framework that seeks to build effective
citizens?
• What opportunities exist in teaching economics?
Think about student outcomes.
• 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
1) Define capitalism. Do we Americans truly
understand it as an economic system in the abstract?
Is there a better alternative?
2) President Calvin Coolidge once said, “The business of
America is business.” Since 1981, how has capitalism
affected our democracy?
Capitalism: A Love Story
Discussion Questions
3) Does our democracy depend upon capitalism,
or vice versa? Do Americans tend to conflate
the two? Why or why not?
4) Alvarado St. Bakery and Isthmus Engineering
– is this capitalism? Why are cooperative
companies the exception rather than the rule?
Capitalism: A Love Story
Discussion Questions
5) Professor Black – do those who choose
finance on Wall Street really make the world
worse?
6) Is deregulation anti-democratic?
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
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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 ActivityIntroduction to Economic Principles:
Essential Concepts
Macroeconomic Principles
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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” GameThe Gains From Trade
Resources: Books and Supplementary
Readings
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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.
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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-powerchoose
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://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/2010/04/12/
100412ta_talk_surowiecki
– Consumer Reports
• http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm
Online Resources
• Blogs
– Economix, New York Times
• http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/
– 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-blogsresource-page
– Powell Center for Economic Literacy Blog by Timothy
Schilling
• http://valuingeconomics.blogspot.com/
Online 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/
Online Resources
• NCEE’s Virtual Economics DVD
http://ve.councilforeconed.org/
• Econ Ed Link
http://www.econedlink.org/
Online Resources
• The Federal Reserve’s Educational Materials
http://www.federalreserveeducation.org/
Other Resources
• Teaching Economics As If People Mattered
– an “alternative” curriculum?
– http://teachingeconomics.org/
Teaching Economics as if People
Mattered: Think/Pair/Share
• Give a brief summary of your lesson.
• Would you use the lesson as is, modify it, or
not use it at all? Why?
• Tell us some of your lesson’s pros and cons.
NCEE & GATE
• National Council for Economic Education
• Global Association of Teachers of Economics
http://www.councilforeconed.org/
HIS 420 Economics Wiki
http://his420teachingeconomics.wikispaces.com
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- Please make contributions and comments!
- Together, we can make a great resource!