Econ Teachers

Useful chart to demonstrate Specialization and how every country is good at something.  

It is very interesting. I posted on my blog at http://valuingeconomics.blogspot.com on Thursday. As I said there, I'm not sure some of those "specializations" are something a country would necessarily be proud of - or something they could "trade." But it is a good example of how every country is "good" at something.

Original taken from McConnell and Breu, I update them with data and stories from the Internet.

Shows in real time the change in unemployment across the country since the start of the recession. Also a neat addition---you can select up to 5 states and compare the changes in unemployment on a line graph next to the interactive graph...

I find it amazing (and troubling) that Latin America and Africa have made no appreciable gains in 40 years. They are rich in human capital and other productive resources....as a side note, I noticed in one of the comments on the blog you found this graphic there was some conversation about the CPI and that it was reconfigured in the 1990's(?) and that with the new method inflation is underestimated, therefore RGDP must be overstated...I have to admit ignorance on this issue...Are you familiar with it? Any commments as to the validity of the underestimation of inflation? Thanks!!

Gene, I'm not sure we should be so troubled by the flat trend lines for Latin America and Africa. Keep in mind, this is not GDP, this is share of world's GDP. Unlike total output, which is NOT a zero sum concept, share of total output IS a zero-sum concept. A gain made by one part of the world is only possible by a loss made in another part of the world. The decline of the EU 15's share of world GDP does not mean that the EU 15 experienced a decline in output. In fact, the EU 15 have grown steadily over the last 40 years. Their downward sloping curve indicates that they have grown more slowly than the rest of the world, that's all. So the flat lines for Africa and Latin America in fact indicate that those two regions have grown more rapidly than Europe. Although it doesn't look like it on this graph, the "poor south" is actually catching up with the "rich north" as average growth in Europe lags behind that in the south. It's a bit misleading to interpret the graph in this way, but the gains in Asia have in a way come at the expense of gains in Europe, but only in that they now have a larger share of a MUCH larger pie! All regions have grown, and Latin America and Africa have grown AS quickly as the US, and MORE quickly than Europe. Good news!

Thanks for the reply and the analysis...I did not occur to me to think of it in those terms...I am better off for asking the question!!! :)

Great group of lesson plans, resources, and even widgets for a blog/wiki.

FYI---Link appears to be broken...:(

This is the working link - http://www.pbs.org/teachers/access-analyze-act-economy/ I don't know what happened the first time around. Thanks for letting me know Gene

Interactive graphic that can be used to have students try to trim the budget just like they are discussing in real-life. Also interesting to see what areas are being cut and what areas are being added to.

Uses econ data (among others) to show how different regions of the world have changed over time. Uses Gapminder technology to set graphs and charts in motion.

This is great. I'm glad Google is putting some effort into developing the Gapminder software. The OECD Quality of Life indicators look like a great way to dive in Macroeconomic indicators.

Economists discuss recent recessons

This AP Econ teacher from San Diego has some excellent review videos, "Economics in 60 Seconds" on his YouTube page. Check it out! "Mr. Clifford and ACDC Leadership is dedicated to creating interactive programs, lessons, and activities that make learning exciting."

You are a pirate commander staked with $50,000 from local tribal leaders and other investors. Your job is to guide your pirate crew through raids in and around the Gulf of Aden, attack and capture a ship, and successfully negotiate a ransom. Read More http://www.wired.com/special_multimedia/2009/cutthroatCapitalismTheGame#close=1#ixzz0kUiJh4q1

A summer course on game theory from Yale... 

Really interesting! The professor, Ben Polak, I believe is hilarious, energetic, great to watch and learn from. Definitely worthwhile watching.

This is the coup d'grace for the previous link on what a Trillion Dollars looks like...:)

A site that links to many different sites with interactive graphs...May be something for you!!! :)

This is my own site that I've made for my students. It contains links to good resources (videos, flash lessons, etc.) that they can use to supplement their in-class learning and the homework I give them. The resources are all student-friendly and grouped according to the IB units.

I love that Harvard Economics professor Gregory Mankiw blogs, but I hate that has de-activated the comments on his blog. Yesterday he posted a question from his own Harvard introductory economics class.  Since he doesn't allow comments though, I cannot tell if I'm solving it correctly. So I will re-publish it here and ask my readers to solve the problem in the comment section. IB and AP students who have studied microeconomic should be able to put some of their basic algebra skills to work to solve this one.

Molly, could you explain how you determined that at a world price of $6, the firm's profit maximizing Q would become 5 units? Why did we equalize P=MC to find the firm's output at a price of 6? I see why the firm becomes an exporter at a world price of $6 if they produce 5 units (since domestic Qs exceeds domestic Qd) but just not why we determine the firm's output by P=MC. Thanks!

I guess I am assuming that once there is free trade the monopolist has to act like a perfect competitor and at least in the world market is a price taker. It's a bit like the monopsonist who has to become a wage taker once there is an effective minimum wage. Consequently he employs more workers since his MFC equals the wage.

NICE Adobe Flash graph showing the change in Unemployment county by county for the last two years...EYE OPENING for students...

This is an excellent graphic, I showed it to my AP Macro students. They can't exactly explain it yet, but it certainly had a powerful impact. Will use it again later in the year for sure.