Illustrates how principles and intermediate microeconomic students can gain an understanding for strategic price setting by playing a relatively large oligopoly game. Explains that the game extends to a continuous price space and outlines appropriate applications. Offers the Mathematica code to instructors so that the assumptions of the game can…

Outlines the key elements of Arrow's Impossibility Theorem. Presents another graphical proof of the theorem designed to be more accessible to students and teachers. States the strength of this approach is that the patterns of agreements and conflicts over all possible combinations are transparent and key to intuitively understanding Arrow's…

Illustrates how fair price policies can be explained to undergraduate students by applying simple graphical methods normally used in general equilibrium trade theory. Indicates that fair price strategies can be looked upon as a suboptimal device for redistributing the gains from trade as compared with a transfer of funds. (JEH)

Describes an interdisciplinary approach to teaching economics using motion pictures to establish the context for elementary economics concepts. Uses the plots and subplots to illustrate problems and issues amenable to economic analysis. Suggests how the films can be sequenced to create a general studies course for non majors. (JEH)

Provides an economic analysis of tradable pollution permits by clarifying the derivation of permit supply and demand relationships and connecting those concepts to permit trading for two polluters. Develops relationships for both polluters and allows creation of market schedules for permit supply and demand. Discusses the satisfaction of the…

States that the IS-LM model is the primary model of economic fluctuations taught in undergraduate macroeconomics. Argues that the aggregate demand-price adjustment (AD-PA) model is superior for teaching about economic fluctuations. Compares the IS-LS model with the AD-AP model using two current issues in macroeconomics. (JEH)

Describes a modified version of the Paper River exercise that appeared in the spring 1999 journal issue. Illustrates the application of the Coase theorem for solving an externality problem. Indicates students share a single productive resource and work in groups rather than pairs as they did in the earlier version. (JEH)

States many central banks have adopted policies known as inflation targeting. Declares that students need experience with the implications of these policies. Provides a simple graphical device involving the output gap and the inflation rate to overcome these problems that can be used to teach intermediate macroeconomics students about inflation…

Describes two applications in which the chain-weight index is explored using spreadsheet software. Explains that the first application introduces the concept by comparing it to Laspeyres, Paasche, and ideal indexes. States that the second application is a step-by-step process to calculate chain-weight index statistics. (JEH)

Suggests a method to teach John Keynes's principle of effective demand using a standard aggregate labor market diagram familiar to students taking advanced undergraduate macroeconomics courses. States the analysis incorporates Michal Kalecki's version to show Keynesian unemployment as a point on the aggregate labor demand curve inside the…

Offers graphical proof of the proposition that the dynamically efficient allocation of a depletable, nonrenewable resource allows higher net benefits to users in both time periods than any other allocation. States that in this proof the result is more general and does not require the numerical specification of other previous models. (JEH)

Offers a Web page with seven Java applets allowing students to experiment with key concepts in an introductory statistics course. Indicates the applets can be used in three ways: to place links to the applets, to create in-class demonstrations of statistical concepts, and to lead students through experiments and discover statistical relationships.…

Describes a Web site that is a companion to the Miles Cahill article, "Teaching Chain-Weight Real GDP Measures." States that the exercises are useful because intermediate level textbooks treat this topic casually. Indicates that the Web site contains the comment tool, an overview of the concepts, and links to article references. (JEH)

States that often constant returns to scale are also much more and that many important results depend on the very special properties of this class of production function. Offers a unified set of simple proofs, employing only familiar diagrams and high school geometry, for most of the crucial analytical properties of constant returns production.…

States the principal-agent theory is difficult to teach because of its technical complexity and intractability. Indicates the equilibrium in the contract space is defined by the incentive parameter and insurance component of pay under a linear contract. Describes a graphical approach that students with basic knowledge of algebra and…