Archive for the 'Teaching' Category

Apr 25 2008

Final study guide posted to “Exam Prep” page - time to get down to business!

Throughout the year I’ve been developing SMARTBoard lessons for every topic in the AP Economics class. These lessons have now all been turned into .pdf files available for download in the “AP/IB Exam Prep” page of this blog. Check it out for links study guides for the nine units we’ve covered this year, as well as links to the wiki pages where the students have created their own, collaborative resource for AP exam preparation.

If you download and use the .pdf files, all I ask is that you leave a comment on the page telling me where you are, what school you go to or work for, and how you plan to use the study guides as part of your review!

Thanks, and good luck in preparing for the upcoming exams!

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Apr 14 2008

Every graph you need to know for AP Econonomics - in one place!

Micro and Macro Graphs - Welker’s Wikinomics Page

Throughout the year, I’ve been saving the graphs we’ve learned in class on the Smartboard. Just yesterday Wetpaint, our wiki provider, added a new feature allowing users to create albums of uploaded images. I have created two albums (Micro and Macro), found through the link above, containing all of the graphs we learned this year.

Here’s the catch: the graphs contain no titles or detailed descriptions. That’s where YOU come in. Follow the link above, enter an album, and add any information you know about the graphs or images there. Of course, you as an individual don’t have to do more than one or two, but YOU as a group of AP Econ students need to complete all 60 or so descriptions before May 8.

Use your notes, the wiki pages, and text book to recall the important information for each of the graphs. By May 8, one week before your AP Exams, we should have one place to go to review all of the graphs you learned this year, full color images, titles and descriptions included!

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Apr 03 2008

Twitter updates on Welker’s Wikinomics Blog

Do you know what Twitter is? Probably not, neither did I until a couple of weeks ago. This is a cool program that lets you follow friends and people who have things in common with you in their online experiences.

Now you can follow Welker’s Wikinomics on Twitter. This is a test post to see if my blog posts show up as Twitter updates. If so, then anyone following me, Jason Welker, on Twitter will receive a “twit” whenever I’ve published a new article on this blog, linking you to the latest post. This is just one more convenient way to follow this blog, without having to visit the page to see if there’s been a new article!

Enjoy! - Jason

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Mar 11 2008

IB program “anti-American”?

Utah lawmakers, fearing UN conspiracy, kill funds for International Baccalaureate program - Salt Lake Tribune

In Utah, law-makers fear the IB program, which they believe is a United Nations conspiracy to take over the minds of young, patriotic Americans and corrupt them with a global-perspective of the world.

Lawmakers decided against helping Utah schools pay for International Baccalaureate (IB) programs after one legislator called IB’s philosophy “anti-American” today.

“I’m not opposed to understanding the world,” Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, told members of the Senate Education Committee. “I’m opposed to the anti-American philosophy that’s somehow woven into all the classes as they promote the U.N. [United Nations] agenda.”

Remind me never to go teach in Utah. This is an absurd and frightening statement about America. I understand these legislators’ views don’t by any means represent any sort of consensus among Americans; in fact, the US graduates more IB Diploma students each year than any other country. That any law-maker would vote against a modest proposal to fund this program on the grounds that it “anti-American” puts on stark display for the world the insecurity, fear, and close-mindedness a certain, right-wing section of the American population.

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Mar 10 2008

Welker’s Wikinomics celebrates its 1st birthday with exciting new features for Economics teaches and students

Welker’s Wikinomics - the Universe

AP/IB Exam Prep - Smartboard Study Guides

Exciting things are happening here at Welker’s Wikinomics. In February the blog and wiki had their first birthday; it was one year ago that I launched the wiki as a tool for extending the AP Economics program beyond the classroom and into the world of Web 2.0. What started as a small experiment in learning the wiki way has expanded into an online learning environment encompassing multiple Web 2.0 technologies.

Between the wiki and the blog Welker’s Wikinomics has welcomed over 70,000 visitors since June of 2007! Besides SAS students, the wiki and blog are visited by readers interested in economics from every continent!

Since September, two new exciting features have been added to the online learning environment here. First, the SAS Economists Blog, written by AP Econ students, which has seen dozens of posts, had thousands of readers, and enjoyed comments and feedback from people around the world.

Most recently, Welker’s Wikinomics Universe was launched using the Netvibes platform. This website, linked from the home page and in the menu bar above, is a resource for anyone who wants to read economics news and blogs, listen to econ podcasts, follow the progress of our student wiki and blogs, or find links to valuable resources for teaching economics. The page integrates RSS feeds to keep readers posted on the latest news stories, blog posts, and podcasts from leading media sources and economics bloggers. The site serves as an excellent research tool for students needing articles for their classes, or those simply interested in understanding how economics relates to the real world.

Finally, another technology I’ve been lucky to use here at SAS over the last year is the digital Smartboard, which has enabled me to save every lesson and lecture from each unit of the AP syllabus all year. Lately I’ve been refining these pages, and have created .pdf files for each unit from the AP syllabus, assembled them as a study guide, and uploaded them to make them available for all AP Econ students to use as review for the upcoming exams (2 months away!). These documents can be found in the “AP/IB Exam Prep” page, linked from the menu bar above. They are not intended as a stand-alone study guide, rather are meant to accompany the class wiki, which contains far more comprehensive information on the details of the AP Econ course.

I sincerely hope that the resources here in Welker’s Wikinomics World have proven useful for Econ students and teachers. I sense that students here at SAS seem to benefit from these tools, although I suppose we’ll know for sure when their exam results come back at the end of the summer! Good luck, students, in these final few weeks before your AP exams!

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Jan 21 2008

Trying to see the forest through the trees - Welcome to Macroeconomics!

Now a week into our second semester of AP Economics here in Shanghai, we’ve just wrapped up our study of microeconomics, culminating the first half of this year’s studies with a test on our final unit, Market Failure and the Role of Government. It’s now time to delve into the field of Macroeconomics, in which the role of government will be examined in the context of the national and international economies.Do you see a forest or a bunch of trees?

At this point in the course, you may find yourself asking, “what is the difference between micro and macro, anyway?” I thought I’d write a short blog post introducing some basic concepts of Macro to help clear up the confusing and not so obvious differences between these two fields of economics.

Ateacher of mine once explained the difference between micro and macro using the example of a tree and a forest. Microeconomics is the like the study of an individual tree, standing in a thick forest of thousands of individual trees of different species. A microeconomist might study the systems that make an individual tree function efficiently, providing it with the sustanence it needs to thrive in the forest. A macroeconomist, however, will take a broader look at the forest as a whole, and observe how the thousands of trees work together in conjunction with the sun, the soil, the oxygen, nitrogen, and H2O in the environment that make the entire forest function efficiently as one giant organism.

Continue Reading »

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Jan 17 2008

Our Wiki - SAS Econ students help Mozambiquean Econ students learn!

Check this out guys! Tonight I got a message on our Wiki from Antonio, an Econ professor from Africa. Here’s what he had to say:

Hi Jason,Professor Antonio
I am Lecturer at the Economics Faculty in Maputo, Mozambique. I have recently come across your wiki and am really enjoying and learning a lot with it. I am creating my own wiki for my class, and your wiki provides a lot of insight. If you do not know Portuguese my wiki will not be of any use for you. In any case, I am the one who needs to learn with you. Thanks for the insights!
Best regards
Antonio

There’s globalization and education in the era of Web 2.0 at its best! International, teenage, Econ students living and going to school in Shanghai are helping African university professors and students learn economics. If you’re not convinced that the wiki’s effective, have a look at this. Here’s a map showing the last 100 visitors at Welker’s Wikinomics Wiki:

Wiki map

That’s right, guys, your wiki work is being seen, read, studied, and learned from all over the world! How amazing! Congratulations on all the great contributions you guys have made to the world on online economics education! You truly are teaching the world economics! 

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Jan 13 2008

Student bloggers find their voices at SAS Economists blog

Shanghai American School Economists - A podcast and blog produced by AP Econonomics students at Shanghai American School

Sometimes I read something written by students and I can hardly believe what I see. Students who utter barely a word in class somehow manage to write like journalists when they know their words will be read by more than just their teacher. Sometimes students are afraid to write for an audience, but sometimes the very thought of doing so motivates them to create something special, challenge themselves, push the limits of their knowledge and skills.

Back in September of 2007, about six months into my own career as a blogging economics teacher, I created a website where my students could freely post their own economics pieces. I explained to students that the site was for their own use; anyone could register as an author, write whatever they wanted, and post it to the blog whenever they pleased. I promised I would only step in and edit were something inappropriate or grossly inaccurate to appear. So far, I’ve not had to edit a single student article. And the amazing thing is, the articles that appear on this blog are getting better and better as the year goes on!

As and econ blogger myself, I am starting to realize that what I do every night, when I write articles for my students’ benefit, is not that impressive, because the articles THEY are writing are just as good if not better than the ones I write on my blog! For example, kids are now beginning to read the news as if the ARE economists, and when they identify an economic principle in something they read, they are challenging themselves to blog it on their AP Economics blog. Again, these kids are not required to write articles for this blog, but for some reason, they just DO! I love it!

If you haven’t yet, check out the SAS Economists AP Economics student blog. Not only are there some entertaining and educational articles about economics posted, but over 25 student-created podcasts too (both audio and video) exploring the economic concepts we’ve studied so far in microeconomics.

A website that started out as a fun little experiment in student blogging has turned into a forum for students whose voices may be heard by few during class, but through the world of Web 2.0 can be heard by thousands over the web!

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Jan 10 2008

AP and IB Economics: another semester begins

It’s been a month since my last post; the longest I’ve gone since starting this blog without writing. My guilt is mounting, although three weeks of skiing in the Pacific Northwest has mitigated the guilt of not blogging somewhat, it’s now time to get back to work!

Here’s what’s coming up in the next quarter in my AP and IB Economics courses. First let’s start with AP:

  • We’re 90% done with the Micro component of the course. Since we do both micro and macro here, the micro component requires about two weeks more than macro, since we teach the “basic economic concepts” unit first thing in the year. For that reason, we’ll carry over into the first week of the 2nd semester to finish up our final unit of micro, which is…
  • Market Failure and the Role of Government. This is my favorite unit in microeconomics, although regretfully it is also the shortest. Only about 12% (6-8 questions) on the AP exam will cover market failure. In this unit we’ll learn about the misallocation of resources that results due to the existence of public goods and externalities (both negative and positive). This unit provides a brief introduction to the broad and quickly developing field of environmental economics. For students interested in learning more about this fascinating field, there’s a great blog written by Tim Haab and John Whitehead, two of America’s leading academic environmental economics, found here.
  • In just a couple of weeks we’ll begin an entirely new course in economics, where we’ll focus on the macro side of the economy. Most of second semester will be spent learning about topics such as inflation, unemployment, economic growth, international trade, the money supply, the federal reserve and other big topics in macroeconomics.
  • The AP exam date is officially set for May 15. All my students will sit for both the micro and the macroeconomics exams on the morning and afternoon of May 15.

Meanwhile, in IB Economics, my eleven higher level students have begun their final unit of this two year course. For the next 9 weeks we will focus our studies on development, including:

  • The sources and consequences of economic growth and development,
  • Barriers to economic development,
  • Strategies for economic development, and
  • the evaluation of economic development strategies.

Around March we’ll wrap up this final unit, and spend the 7 or 8 weeks before our May exam to review the concepts going back to our first IB unit from the beginning of last year, and review all our units up to this point, including:

  • Basic economic principles
  • Microeconomics,
  • Macroeconomics,
  • International Economics, and
  • Development Economics.

Lots of exciting things will be going on in the world of Welker’s Wikinomics this year. In addition to all the topics we’ll be learning in AP and IB Economics, I personally have begun looking forward to the new teaching position I have accepted for the 2008-2009 school year. I’ll be leaving the hustle and bustle of Shanghai behind for the relative tranquility of the Swiss Alps, where I’ll be teaching both IB and AP Economics at Zurich International School next year.

In the mean time, hope you readers stay tuned to this blog, the wiki my students maintain as they progress through their studies, and the student blog, “SAS Economists”, for the latest from the world of AP and IB Economics here at Shanghai American School!

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Dec 13 2007

More props for our Wiki!

The EduBlog Awards Ceremony was podcasted live over at EdTechTalk.com. If you want to listen to the whole ceremony, follow the link above. Here’s a clip where they announce the “Best Educational Wiki” category and Welker’s Wikinomics!

 
icon for podpress  EduBlog Awards - Best Educational Wiki [1:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you’re still not sure whether the EduBlog Awards (the “Eddies”) are a big deal, it looks like they’re getting some attention in the mainstream press as well.

PBS Teachers | learning.now . More than Just Blogging: the 2007 EduBlog Awards | PBS

From the influential technology blogger Andy Carvin over at PBS.org:

“It’s that time of year again - the winners of the annual Edublog Awards have been announced. And despite the name having the word “blog” in it, the awards cover a whole range of educational projects, including wikis, social networks and even virtual reality spaces. If you’re looking for a quick scan of cool education initiatives using social media, this is a great place to get started.

The Edublog Awards, launched four years ago, is an annual tribute to the best and brightest across the educational Web 2.0 landscape. Back then, the awards focused solely on different types of blogs: library blogs, research blogs, group blogs and the like. You can still find some of those categories today, but what I find most enjoyable are the awards given to educational projects that aren’t actually blogs.

For example, there’s the category for best educational wiki. These are websites where students and teachers collaborate to produce interesting and informative content. Like any wiki, the pages can be edited by anyone involved in the project, so the depth, breadth and hopefully the quality of the content improves over time. The winner for best wiki is Welker’s Wikonomics. Created by the students of AP economics teacher Jason Welker at the Shanghai American School. Using the free wiki tool known as WetPaint, they’ve put together a multimedia collection of course materials, definitions of economic theories, and resources for other classrooms…”

Way to go SAS Economists! Keep up the good work! One more semester of macroeconomics and you’ll have created the largest online resource for economics students in the world!

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Nov 01 2007

Priorities - the occasional frustration of being a teacher…

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe

Priorities

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Oct 25 2007

Harry Potter Economics…

Environmental Economics: 6th Grade Econ Question of the Day

Tim Haab at Environmental Economics pulls the following question from his 6th grade daughter’s “economics” homework assignment:

Suppose that a new Harry Potter book comes out and yet again becomes a bestseller. Thousands of people want to read this book. Stores will order more copies of this book from the company that makes it. To fill orders, the company increases the SUPPLY of these books in the marketplace. The increased supply has been made in response to an increased DEMAND for the book.

  1. If the supply of a new product is low and the demand is high, what will happen to the price?
  2. If the supply of a product is high and the demand is low, what will happen to the price?

Here’s the answer the teacher wants the 6th graders to give:

    1. Price will increase in response to a shortage.
    2. Price will decrease in response to a surplus.

My question for you is: what’s wrong with this picture? Is professor Haab’s 6th grade daughter being taught good economics? Without following the link and reading Dr. Haab’s entry, see if you can figure out what’s wrong with this question!

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Aug 18 2007

Making Economics stick… try HUMOR!

All the talk about economics being the “dismal science” is totally wrong. In fact, this subject is more funny than people know! Have you heard of the Stand-up Economist? He actually does shows in which Economics jokes get laughs from non-economists… now if we high school teachers can’t learn from a guy like this, then who can we learn from? While making econ funny isn’t always easy, it should certainly get our kids attention! So, add humor to your list of tools in your attempt to make economics stick with your students. Ladies and gentlemen, the Stand-up Economist!


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Aug 16 2007

Two thumbs up for AP Econ

12th-Graders Show Strength in Economics - washingtonpost.com

On a recent national economics exam, high school seniors scored higher than they did on similar math and reading exams. Interesting stuff. The article explains:

“Economics courses are becoming increasingly common in high school. A 2005 survey of transcripts found 66 percent of high school graduates had taken an economics class, up from 49 percent in 1982.

Students who took a high-level economics course, such as one labeled Advanced Placement or honors, were more likely to score high on the national test than students who did not take a similar course, according to the governing board.”

For those of you who teach AP Econ, it probably comes as no surprise that AP Econ students score higher on a test designed for a national audience than non AP students. But how about this:

“But high schoolers who took a general economics course did not do any better on the economics test than students who didn’t take a class, which raises questions about the rigor of those basic-level courses. It’s also possible that students are getting some information about economics through other courses.”

That should be of some surprise. Even if kids take a one semester intro to basic economic ideas course, you’d think anything would prepare them to outperform their peers who have not taken any econ. This is a frightening fact, and it basically says that non-AP Econ courses are doing little if anything to enhance students’ understanding of Economics.

Here at SAS, my colleague Harvey, who has taught AP and IB Econ for over a decade, is picking up a survey Econ course this year. His plan is to take the AP syllabus and teach as closely to it as he can. This seems like a good strategy; even though non-AP students should not be held to the same standard as the AP students, the syllabus certainly gives teachers a place to start and something to strive for.

Below Greg Mankiw of Harvard gives his two cents. Mankiw was on the test development committee for the AP for a while, and seems to think the AP course gets the job done pretty well.

Greg Mankiw’s Blog: High School Economics

“I have often worried about the quality of high school economic courses. Over the years, I have met quite a few AP teachers (and even spent some time as a member of the committee that writes the AP exam), and I am confident in the quality of those courses. But the non-AP courses, from reports I have heard, are less consistent in quality. Basic high school courses in economics need to start looking more like the introductory courses taught in college.”

Or, do as Harvey does and teach to the AP syllabus, just lower the bar a bit when it comes to assessments. I’ll ask Harvey to write an article later in the year about how this strategy turns out!

Check out the debate that follows Mankiw’s piece… around 24 comments from readers with all kinds of interesting views, definitely worth reading!

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Aug 16 2007

Teaching Economics and making it stick!

The Dismal Science, Dismally Taught - New York Times

As our new school year begins and we all settle into the routine of teaching economics, I thought this article offered a wake-up call for us principles of economics teachers. Robert Frank, econ professor from Cornell, makes some poignant observations about introductory economics courses in this NYT article:

“Studies have shown that when students are tested about their knowledge of basic economic principles six months after completing an introductory economics course, they score no better, on average, than those who never took the course.”

Frank goes on to suggest that perhaps the reason for this dismal news has to do with the fact that Econ teachers tend to emphasize far too much in an introductory course.

“The typical course bombards students with hundreds of concepts, many of them embedded in complex equations and graphs. The mathematical formalism that has become the hallmark of economic research has yielded deep insights. But it does not seem to have helped introductory students learn basic economic principles.”

As I prepare for another year of teaching AP Micro and Macro, it is certainly daunting to think of all the formulas, graphs, equations and definitions kids will have to learn between now and May. Is there any hope that it will stick beyond those two, 2-hour exams they sit for in the spring? If we wish it to do so, we may reconsider how we go about teaching the basics. Frank writes of a “revolutionary” approach to teaching complex subjects like economics:

“Just as a few simple sentence patterns enable small children to express an amazing variety of thoughts, a few basic principles do much of the lifting in economics. If someone focuses on only these principles and applies them repeatedly in examples drawn from familiar contexts, they can be mastered easily in a single semester.

The form in which ideas are conveyed is important. Perhaps because our species evolved as storytellers, the human brain is innately receptive to information in narrative form.”

At the end of last semester I had my students complete a course evaluation in which many of them mentioned that their most memorable moments from their AP course were the times I told personal stories that helped illustrate the basic principles (such as opportunity cost, cost-benefit analysis, diminishing marginal utility, and so on). Most such stories are not thought out before hand; I’ve never written a story down and given it to kids or read it to them.

Almost always, it will be in the middle of an energetic lecture about a topic, say, diminishing marginal utility, and often times something will come to me: “like the other night when I was at Haggen Daaz downtown Shanghai and my wife and I were choosing what to order… I had to weigh the marginal benefit of a three-scoop bowl to the marginal cost. Of course, the third scoop costs less than the second, but it also provides me with less marginal utility!”

A story like that… it was totally spur of the moment, totally unscripted, but it illustrated, what, three different basic principles to the students? Those kinds of stories stick, the narrative form of teaching economics focusing on major principles seems to be the means by which my students will take something away from this brief time we have together, which is so important in this time of ever increasing scarcity. As Frank says:

“Basic economic principles are not rocket science. They are accessible even to children. Lance Knobel, for example, who writes the blog DavosNewbies.com, said that he’d been regaling his 11-year-old son with economic naturalist puzzles at bedtime, “and he can’t get enough of them.”

Given the importance of the economic choices we confront, both as individuals and as a society, more effective economics training would yield enormous dividends. And in light of the low bar established by traditional courses, there seems little risk in trying something different.”

As another year of scarcity, costs, markets, supply and demand gets off to a start, this article seemed like a great excuse to pause for a moment and reflect on the practice of teaching, the art of teaching, and the means by which we attempt to get SO MUCH information into these kids heads in SO LITTLE time! Good luck to all you Econ teachers who are also starting the new year out afresh… hope you find your narrative, your flow; perhaps take a risk and try something new… that should make you and your students learn and enjoy economics so much more!

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Jun 25 2007

Tests, testing and tested

A dismal introduction I know, but my first posting will have to be about exams, since I have been almost wholly occupied with grading both AP and IB papers over the past month. While I prefer teaching (economics and math), I have to admit that I am always thrilled to have the chance to mark external tests. I open each paper expectantly—never knowing what might be inside—and it’s interesting to compare and contrast responses.

Indeed I always learn a lot while I’m grading; at the risk of boring you, may I pass on the following few points:

  1. Every word in a question is significant; nothing should be ignored.
  2. Keep your answers straightforward: 1.If in doubt confine yourself to the short run (unless it’s an economic growth question); otherwise you are likely to end up with a convoluted response, which could go on for ever! 2. Don’t ever contradict yourself; the examiner will think that you’re hedging your bets. It’s preferable just to pursue a consistent line of reasoning.
  3. Don’t use vague terms or statements that are unsupported. Words such as “productivity”, “profits” and “efficiency” are often used glibly and inappropriately. The test taker consequently appears to be gabbling. Make sure to cite actual policy tools, not just general strategies, such as “expansionary”.
  4. When drawing graphs: a) Every axis and curve must be labeled. (If in doubt put P on the vertical axis and Q on the horizontal). b) Never indulge in double shifts of demand and supply unless two events have happened. c) Clearly show the old and new equilibrium points with the use of dotted lines to the axes.

I really should have waited until next year to write the above, but by then I might have forgotten what seemed most important while marking. In the meantime I will take to heart what I have learnt from reading many student responses to AP and IB question; in particular I will try not to gabble myself while teaching.

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May 30 2007

The Hegemony of Neo-classical Economics

Two heterodox economists respond to an article I blogged about last week, Hip Heterodoxy, published in the Nation, written by Chris Hayes.

Challenging Orthodox Economics – Part I | TPMCafe by Thomas Palley

Economics Outside the Mainstream | TPMCafe by David Ruccio

As our year winds down and we begin getting our materials and lessons in order for our next batch of AP Econ students, it’s unlikely we’ll pause to ask a rather important question: “Is the economics I’m teaching my students the correct and immutable truth?”

After all, isn’t economics still a young science? It’s only been a few generations since Smith, Riccardo and Locke laid the groundwork for what has become the mainstream, neo-classical/neo-Keynesian theory that makes up every major economics text and principles course out there. Who’s to say that in another one hundred years these views, products of the late 20th century themselves, will still be considered the correct solutions for dealing with the economic problem?

As mentioned in a previous post “Keynesian vs. Neo-classical Economics - and what is Heterodox Economics?”, the field loosely described as “heterodox economics” raises difficult questions of human behavior and thinking that challenges the neo-classical view of perfectly rational actors and the efficiency and perfectibility of free markets (the view that we teach in AP Economics). David Ruccio, econ professor at Notre Dame, laments on mainstream economists:

All reasonable arguments are accepted in the marketplace of ideas. Except they (mainstream economists) never read any heterodox economics, and have no idea how the hegemony of their favorite theory shuts out all other ideas…That’s the situation that heterodox economists are trying to change. By using economic theories other than those of the mainstream… By forming journals and associations apart from those of the mainstream (in which their ideas never get aired). And by challenging the mainstream conception of the discipline itself
(including its notions of what science is, and what it means to “think like an economist”).

We do heterodox economics, or what some refer to as political economy—as against economics (which, as Chris correctly argues, has become identified with a tiny number of theoretical approaches). We write about rates of exploitation and the role of power in increasing inequality and the existence of patriarchy and structural racism. Not only do we want to argue that economic actors are sometimes irrational or guided by norms and values; some of us also want to analyze economic institutions and events without even starting from individual actors. Or efficiency. Or constrained optimization.

So, do you feel guilty yet about teaching only the mainstream view in your course? Don’t fret, even Professor Ruccio has to teach his students the neo-classical approach; here’s how he deals with the status quo in his courses:

In all honesty, I mostly prefer not to read maintream economics these days. Either it says nothing of interest, or it gets me very angry. But I teach it, and I teach it in a way that is more rigorous than my mainstream colleagues. Because I teach its basic assumptions (and not as a kind of common sense) and because I present alternative views, heterodox economics. And then I read and do heterodox economics, independently of the mainstream. Because if we spend all our time worrying about mainstream economics, attempting to do mainstream economics (with a tweak here and a changed assumption there), we’ll never get around to developing alternatives.

Professor Ruccio makes an important point here. Before students can become agents of positive change, aware and capable of making the world a better place (and the field of economics a better science) they must first know what needs fixing. I know as much as any AP Econ teacher how rushed this course is, how little time is really left for discussions beyond the basic principles in the syllabus; but in the future, I think I’ll challenge myself and my students to take a little time and find out what alternative approaches to the economic problem are being researched, published, and put into action out there. Technology, the web, blogs: these are the tools that will enable us to easily connect our students to alternative, heterodox economics despite the hectic pace of our AP course. And if your school has access to online journal databases, here’s a few suggestions for economics publications that give a voice to heterodox economists like Professor Ruccio:

The Review of Income and Wealth, the Cambridge Journal of Economics, the European Journal of Comparative Economics, Research in Economic History, Industrial and Corporate Change, CES Ifo Economic Studies, the Eastern Economic Journal, the BNL Quarterly Review and The Economist’s Voice.

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May 29 2007

Hello future AP Economics students…