http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog for students and teachers of AP and IB Economics Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:28:07 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 'Japanese' pair reportedly held with $134 billion in U.S. bonds | The Japan Times OnlineTwo Japanese were detained by Italian financial police last week after trying to enter Switzerland with $134 billion worth of undeclared U.S. bonds, mostly Treasury bonds, an Italian newspaper reported Wednesday. The Japanese Consulate General in Milan ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/06/13/welkers-daily-links-06122009/ Embedded video from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/video" mce_href="http://www.cnn.com/video">CNN Video</a> Harvard Economist Niall Ferguson appeared on CNN's GPS with Fareed Zakaria over the weekend. Ferguson has stood out among mainstream economists lately in his opposition to the US fiscal stimulus package, an $880 billion experiment in expansionary Keynesian policy. While economists like Paul Krugman ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/06/10/the-almighty-bond-market-niall-fergusons-concerns-about-the-us-deficit-explained/ Next Test - Value of $125,000-a-Year Teachers - NYTimes.comSo what kind of teachers could a school get if it paid them $125,000 a year? An accomplished violist who infuses her music lessons with the neuroscience of why one needs to practice, and creatively worded instructions like, “Pass the melody gently, as ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/06/10/welkers-daily-links-06092009/ Next Test - Value of $125,000-a-Year Teachers - NYTimes.com More on the New York City charter school that is experimenting with paying teachers nearly triple the national average salary of public schools. So what kind of teachers could a school get if it paid them $125,000 a year? An accomplished violist who infuses ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/06/09/excellence-and-teacher-pay-a-new-york-charter-school-is-not-the-only-school-paying-teachers-100000/ Economic View - Freshman Economics Won’t Be Quite the Same - NYTimes.comMY day job is teaching introductory economics to about 700 Harvard undergraduates a year. Lately, when people hear that, they often ask how the economic crisis is changing what’s offered in a freshman course. They’re usually disappointed with my first ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/06/09/welkers-daily-links-06082009/ Bernanke Presses For Fiscal Restraint - washingtonpost.comThe nation needs to begin planning now to eventually bring taxes and spending in line, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday, arguing that large budget deficits, if sustained, could deepen the financial crisis and choke off the economy. Bernanke's testimony to Congress reflected ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/06/06/welkers-daily-links-06052009/ FT.com / Comment / Opinion - History lesson for economists in thrall to KeynesOn Wednesday last week, yields on 10-year US Treasuries – generally seen as the benchmark for long-term interest rates – rose above 3.73 per cent. Once upon a time that would have been considered rather low. But ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/06/05/welkers-daily-links-06042009/ Singapore is a flush with different examples of price discrimination. The city's population is a melting pot of different groups of people who have contrasting spending habits. Many of the local firms have embraced price discrimination to boost profits and a bar called Brewerkz seems to be the best example. Brewerkz ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/05/29/being-discriminated-in-singapore/ Wolfram|Alpha - computational knowledge engine Making the world's knowledge computable Today's Wolfram|Alpha is the first step in an ambitious, long-term project to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by anyone. You enter your question or calculation, and Wolfram|Alpha uses its built-in algorithms and growing collection of data to compute the answer. ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/05/29/welkers-daily-links-05282009/ Once Considered Unthinkable, U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look - washingtonpost.comHere in Switzerland I enjoy the luxury of having to pay a relatively small federal income tax of 9.6%. In the US, at my current income level, I would be paying a 25% federal income tax. On the other hand, ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/05/28/regressive-or-progressive-taxes-which-road-to-follow-towards-fiscal-discipline/ FT.com | The Economists' Forum | Will stimulus spending stifle recovery?A great article outlining the likelihood of "real" versus "financial" crowding-out that may result from the US fiscal stimulus ...the key question is whether government spending that comes into action during recession is likely to crowd out new private spending, dollar ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/05/27/welkers-daily-links-05262009/ A.P. Economics vs. Real Life - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com Econ Exams: Are The Correct Answers Still Right? : NPR Listen to the 3 minute NPR podcast here It's interesting to me that AP Economics has gotten two major mentions in the mainstream media recently, both asking the same question: Does high school ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/05/20/ap-economics-will-it-evolve-to-a-changing-economic-reality/ Small Firms Wait for a Credit Thaw - WSJ.comAre credit markets still "frozen"? Apparently so for small businesses, which account for 80% of America's economic activity: Big companies are rushing to issue stocks and bonds to suddenly hungry investors. But credit is still scarce for thousands of mostly smaller companies that ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/05/20/welkers-daily-links-05192009/ Op-Ed Contributor - The Almighty Renminbi? - NYTimes.comTHE 19th century was dominated by the British Empire, the 20th century by the United States. We may now be entering the Asian century, dominated by a rising China and its currency. While the dollar’s status as the major reserve currency will not ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/05/16/welkers-daily-links-05152009/ ThinkEconomics: IntroductionThrough interactive graphs, ThinkEconomics illustrates basic economic principles that are taught in a college-level introductory economics course. These graphs enable students to develop analytic and deductive reasoning skills by manipulating graphical elements of the economic models. Students also learn how to apply these models to analyze and understand economic ... http://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2009/05/15/welkers-daily-links-05142009/