The authors describe a classroom experiment that illustrates the research and development investment incentives facing firms when technological spillovers are present. The game involves two stages in which student "sellers" first make investment decisions and then production decisions. The classroom game can be used to motivate discussions of…

Trade, the Internet, and product innovation have greatly enlarged the number of goods (N) in the consumer's choice set. The welfare effect of the growth in N has been extensively discussed in the specialized literature, but very little has filtered down to our textbook models of a competitive equilibrium. These focus on the Pareto-optimal…

The author proposes an alternative to the traditional definition of the gains from international trade and, hence, an alternative defense of free trade. Rather than showing that free trade allows a country to consume more of all final goods, the author's approach shows that free trade allows a country to consume the same basket of final goods that…

The authors measured the pedagogical value of sharing with students what economists do and how they do it. Ostensibly, thinking and researching like economists will transform students into better and more engaged learners as well as provide instructors with effective assessment tools. One way to bring students closer to what economists do is to…

The authors use Microsoft Excel to derive compensated and uncompensated demand curves. They use a constant elasticity of substitution (CES) utility function to show how changes in a good's price or income affect the quantities demanded of that good and of the other composite good, using Excel's Solver. They provide three contributions. First, they…

With this guide, the author aims to induce more economists to talk to people in the media as a means of expanding educational outreach. The guide provides discussions of "do's" and "don'ts" and offers advice on which kinds of research are likely to interest reporters. The author suggests specific approaches to dealing with reporters in different…

Many studies have identified factors that contribute to success in economics principles courses, but few have examined the causes and effects of student drops and failure. The author follows 239 students through their economic principles course and tracks the students in the year after the course. The author constructs a model predicting student…

Describes a teaching method to explain excess burden, a key concept in the public economics field. Demonstrates that changing any relevant variable has the same effect on excess burden when viewed as an area of a triangle under a demand curve or as the value of a mathematical formula. (JEH)

Comments on Gregory Trandel's article that explores two teaching strategies using geometry and algebra to demonstrate the equivalence between two methods of measuring excess burden. States that for students with limited mathematics skills, measuring excess burden can be expressed algebraically using a simple formula (excess burden…

Provides an explanation of the post-World War II economic phenomenon of Japan as a process of economic convergence within the framework of the neoclassical Solo-Swan model of economic growth. States that this interpretation helps students understand economic growth and development and Japan's modern economic history. (JEH)

Focuses on the effect of interest rates on the increased use of credit cards, a popular method of financing households. Uses three models to demonstrate that interest rates must rise, resulting in increased consumption expenditures. (CMK)

Reviews aspects of the Bureau of Economic Analysis's 10th comprehensive revision reported in issues of the "Survey of Current Business." Focuses on the new method identified in the revision that provides an accurate characterization of changes in economic activity not affected by different relative prices in a new base year. (CMK)

Explains why risk aversion does not always induce a greater information value, but instead may induce a lower information value when increased. Presents a basic model defining the concept of perfect information value and providing a numerical illustration. Includes references. (CMK)

Provides background information on the Salem Witch Trials (Salem, Massachusetts) and the medical explanation of the young village girls' behavior in Salem called ergotism (bread poisoning). Presents an economic interpretation of those trials, stating that the ministers employed religious beliefs about witchcraft to maintain their churchs' monopoly…

Summarizes four reasons for abandoning Keynesian economics and explains why the reasons should be disregarded. Argues that parts of Keynesian economics are worth preserving and teaching to students. (CMK)