Does investing taxpayer money in higher education lead to major payoffs in economic growth? State legislators and policy makers say yes. They routinely advocate massive appropriations for university education and research, even in poor economic times, on the grounds that taxpayers will be rewarded many times over. The investment of federal funds…

In 1989, microeconomics and macroeconomics examinations debuted on the Advanced Placement (AP) scene. At that time, many professors of economics were skeptical that college freshmen had the skills and maturity to understand the concepts in principles of economics courses. They thought teaching these concepts to high school students was even more…

Explores consensus among economists on specific propositions on the basis of a fall 2000 survey of American Economic Association members. Finds consensus generally within the profession, although the degree of consensus varies among propositions that are international, macroeconomic, and microeconomic in nature. States the profession displays…

States that short-run production theory and U-shaped cost curves do not conform to industrial reality. Explores in detail the reality of manufacturing stating that fixed proportions seem more suited to describing short-run manufacturing processes. Addresses fixed proportions in short-run production and short-run cost functions. Includes…

Observes that the envelope theorem, a fundamental tool in duality analysis, is still a puzzle to many people. Argues that the essence of a solution proposed by Paul Samuelson (1947) is also unclear to many people, but can be communicated with a simple cost diagram. Presents and explains the proposed diagram. (DSK)

Presents a brief classroom demonstration illustrating Bertrand price undercutting by outlining the experiment, discussing the game theory solution and experiences, and presenting related literatures. States that students remember the lesson because of the significant amounts of money each could have earned. (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.…

Discusses four reasons why economic forecasting courses are important: (1) forecasting skills are in demand by businesses; (2) forecasters are in demand; (3) forecasting courses have positive externalities; (4) and forecasting provides a real-world context. Describes what should be taught in an economic forecasting course. (CMK)

Explores the importance of second-order conditions in the cost-minimization problem confronting the monopsonistic employer of factor inputs. Describes an alternative approach to the presence of pecuniary effects that does not depend on the assumption that firms are monopsonistic in factor markets. (CMK)

Presents a Web site that utilizes the Learning-by-Objective (LBO) model that integrates Internet tools for knowledge transmission, communication, and assessment of learning. Explains that the LBO model has been used in creating micro and macroeconomic course Web sites with WebCT software. (CMK)

Describes an online, securities market, research tool, called Borsa, to engage students in the exploration of asset pricing in microeconomics courses. Defines Borsa as related database files served on the Internet using a dedicated IP address. Discusses practical considerations in running the market. Offers questions that arise from using the…

Outlines a model for teaching economics that incorporates introductory economics concepts into an interdisciplinary class that includes three disciplines focused on a central theme. Covers the principles of microeconomics and the fundamentals of environmental economics. Links these topics to those covered in the ecology and philosophy sections of…

Explores the relationship between student personality types and measures of student performance in principles of microeconomics using the Keirsey Sorter, a 70-question Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI); results from the Test of Understanding of College Economics (TUCE); and course grades. Suggests that personality types do affect student…

Describes interest in the behavior of random processes with positive feedback. Explains that simulation of the law of large numbers with increasing amounts of feedback makes instruction of random processes with positive feedback possible for undergraduate students. (RLH)

Illustrates how a simple discontinuity in an individual's demand curve, or inverse-demand curve, affects the shape of market aggregate curves. Shows, for private goods, that an infinitesimal change in quantity can lead to large changes in consumption patterns; for collective goods, the analysis suggests a theory of coalition building. (DSK)