For Liberty Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Hi everyone! I'm TA'ing and Introductory Economics course next semester. The honor's section is the same as the regular section as far as the lectures go but they have a separate discussion group one night a week, which I am solely in charge of. My professor asked me to come up with some articles to have them read (about 5-10) and told me that I could handle the syllabus as far as how to grade them on the discussions. I was looking for two things from you guys: 1. Can you guys give me some ideas on what articles would be good to have Honor's Freshman Econ students read (goal being, hooking them on econ and also challenging them). 2. What sort of advice do you guys have to give on ways to grade them, i.e. participation grades, quizzes, guided essays, etc. I'm really just looking for some healthy conversation here. I have some ideas but would like to open it up to you all as well. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningeconomy Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Greg Mankiw posted a reading list for his freshman seminar a while back. All the items in the list are books though. But I would definitely suggest The Worldly Philosophers by R.L. Heilbroner. It's something I wish I read during my first course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asquare Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 JEP (the Journal of Economic Perspectives) is a great starting point for readings for undergraduates. Another decent assignment is to have them find a news article, then draw the graphs for the economic principles at play in the article. (So if the article is about rising costs of plane tickets, have them show a shift in the demand curve or whatever.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorkingHard Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Good suggestions above. One person that of course you know well is F. A. Hayek. I think his writing in Hayek, The Use of Knowledge in Society | Library of Economics and Liberty is essential for an understanding in economics and why markets are the only mechanism that can articulate peoples' utility curves (versus a social planner's inability to know the preferences of everyone and make a judgment for them). Sticking to some of those classic authors, like Hayek, and then mingling more current writing I think is the optimal strategy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For Liberty Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 @WorkingHard: Excellent suggestion! It's been the first one on the list every year my professor has taught the course. (One of my personal favorite articles as well). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigritude Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 i always like economics in one lesson by henry hazlitt as a beginner's read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akmandal Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 If you want the seminar to have a bit of levity, perhaps Freakonomics might be a good addition. It also throws up some interesting discussions on the way Levitt has applied economics to real life situations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kipfilet Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 This is definetely not a ill-tempered remark, but Freakonomics struck me as a paradigmatic example of Economics imperialism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelmas Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 I say let the poor children start with something more economics and less narrow-minded, single-directed, ruthless brainwashing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For Liberty Posted January 3, 2011 Author Share Posted January 3, 2011 I say let the poor children start with something more economics and less narrow-minded, single-directed, ruthless brainwashing. .....suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowLearner38 Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 .....suggestions? They shouldn't have a problem chewing on this: Japan's Phillips Curve Looks Like Japan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akmandal Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 This is definetely not a ill-tempered remark, but Freakonomics struck me as a paradigmatic example of Economics imperialism. If i truly did not believe economics can explain all aspects of human behavior, I would not be studying it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowLearner38 Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 If i truly did not believe economics can explain all aspects of human behavior, I would not be studying it. Surely you don't believe that economics can explain every facet of human behavior? That's just silly I think. The way I see it, economics is a tool, or rather a framework, for structuring problems and thus can aid in the process of suggesting reasonable/plausible solutions. Don't forget that the field of economics has 0 laws and 0 facts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimbanator Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 If i truly did not believe economics can explain all aspects of human behavior, I would not be studying it. That's a completely silly, unrealistic assumption that only supports the common perception that economists live in a fantasy world. Understanding the limitations of economics and the value of other fields can actually enhance your research. edit: lol @ SlowLearner using same adjective :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigritude Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Don't forget that the field of economics has 0 laws and 0 facts. wat.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chisquared Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 While I certainly wouldn't go so far as to say that economics can explain every facet of human behavior (neuroeconomists would have a field day on this statement), I do believe that it is quite possible to use economics to help us understand every facet of human behavior. The distinction is subtle, but it's there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kipfilet Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 If i truly did not believe economics can explain all aspects of human behavior, I would not be studying it. I beg to disagree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinp123 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Don't forget that the field of economics has 0 laws and 0 facts. The four Hicks-Marshall laws of derived demand come to mind, but I suppose that's just semantics. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kipfilet Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I thought of Kaldor's (stylised) Facts :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Econ2011 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Good suggestions above. One person that of course you know well is F. A. Hayek. I think his writing in Hayek, The Use of Knowledge in Society | Library of Economics and Liberty is essential for an understanding in economics and why markets are the only mechanism that can articulate peoples' utility curves (versus a social planner's inability to know the preferences of everyone and make a judgment for them). Sticking to some of those classic authors, like Hayek, and then mingling more current writing I think is the optimal strategy. I am not so sure you want to indoctrinate students with Hayek! I was almost a blind follower of libertarian philosophy after my freshman seminar on classical liberalism. I revisited many of those issues later and I am glad I am able to look into things more subjectively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For Liberty Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Here's a problem I have now that I didn't have when I created the post. I gave my teacher a lists of readings that I wanted to cover and thought that they covered a wide range of topics. He was happy with the list but informed me that since BB&T is giving us money that we should really put Atlas Shrugged on there. I think that since it is an introductory economics course their time would be better served reading something with less ideology (a sentiment I'm sure most of you will agree with). Do you guys have any suggestions of ways we could compromise, i.e. good points as to why we shouldn't have them read this relative to something else. For that "something else" I originally had down "The Worldly Philosophers" (thank you Mankiw and RunningEconomy) and he opted against this. (Side note: my self-interest is getting in the way as well; I really do not want to spend a discussion on Atlas Shrugged) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akmandal Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Fine maybe I overreached. However, economics and the theory of rational choices can explain a large chunk of human behavior. And if economics is a tool, it is by far the most important tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akmandal Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I remember the first time I was forced to study Atlas Shrugged for a philosophy class, I used cliff notes. It was only later that I understood the significance of Ayn Rand. Boy, was I stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningeconomy Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I read the whole of Atlas Shrugged after finishing The Fountainhead sometime in my junior year. It took a while before I got through it since I'm a slow reader. I don't know how discussing it could fit in an introductory class since it's more suited for a reading group. As a compromise, youmight want to let them watch the film instead. It'll probably come out this April. At least, that's how the Capitalism and its Critics class at MIT OCW discussed The Fountainhead. But of course you'll need to supplement it with some readings on objectivism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Econ2011 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 It was only later that I understood the significance of Ayn Rand. Boy, was I stupid. And, what is the significance of Ayn Rand? Well, other than hypocrite behavior and a bunch of proclamations which hold little to no value in the world we live in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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