A friend emails our old econ listserv:
I recently found out that I am going to be teaching a high school economics course this coming year. It is only a one semester course (we meet everday for approx. 45 min) and I am suppose to follow the Texas State Standards. In Texas, the course is officially called “Economics with an Emphasis on the Free Enterprise System and Its Benefits” (Yep, that is really the title…)
My hope, however, is to provide a more well-rounded view of Economics. Yet as I sit here and plan for the year, I am have trouble determining what that would look like exactly and what resources would be appropriate for high school students. (Not sure if they are ready for Marx’s Capital just yet).
Some helpful suggestions have arisen:
THE most important lesson you can teach students is that any economic theory (whether mainstream or non-mainstream) represents a different story about the economy – what it is, how it works, etc. Neoclassical economics has its own story, as does Marxian economics (and post-Keynesian economics…
I used a lot of cartoons and videos (esp. from The Onion) to broach controversial topics (globalization, outsourcing, structural adjustment, development, etc.)…
Here’s where my friend needs some help (he’s already planning on using The Economic Conversation as a resource):
The one thing I could really use help on is finding articles, blogs, political cartoons or excerpts from classic texts by the major authors throughout the history of economics.
The lesson plan, so far:
Anyways, the rough plan right now as I try to meet the state standards by teaching the neoclassical curriculum and by incorporating some alternative approaches.
Unit 1 – Intro to Economics: This is where I hope to make the case for why students should be interested in Economics. The plan right now is to just hit the ground running and present the “Free Enterprise System” as one of many stories that can be told about the economy. We will analyze and critique basic assumptions, economic goals of a society, etc.
Unit 2 – Overview of Micro (Supply and Demand and all that good stuff)
Unit 3 – Overview of Macro
Unit 4 – Application of Economics to the Real World and Alternatives to Capitalism: After developing a more in-depth understanding of Capitalism, we will use this last unit to critique the assumptions of Capitalism and to again consider potential alternatives, and imbed these considerations in a real-world context
Can we crowd-source a HS Econ syllabus? I’d like to find out! Any helpful suggestions in the comments/reposting of this would be appreciated.
As far as inspiring interest is concerned, I highly recommend this article from Economica about the market economy inside a POW camp. It has great visual imagery and can spark discussion about a dozen different economic concepts. You can even use it to ask whether a market economy is innate or learned — it does look spontaneous here, but since the POWs came from market economies, they’re not exactly blank slates.
And since Adam Smith is more or less considered the backbone of neoclassical economics, they could hardly protest if you taught a few more paragraphs beyond the invisible hand. (My apologies for the Chomsky link, I know he isn’t everybody’s thing, but he does have the info I want to convey.) All the Scottish Enlightenment folks approached political economy from a very different mindset — I myself would argue they were philosophers first and economists second, trying to achieve The Good in a roundabout way by seeking national prosperity. I don’t know if you have the time to really get into it, but I think it’s an interesting perspective to explore.
I haven’t mentioned Friedman, Keynes, et al. because I’m sure many other people can offer better suggestions than I can; I certainly don’t mean to imply they’re unimportant. Congratulations on your class assignment, and best of luck to you!
It’s tough to beat clips from The Onion.
How about a course about cooperation and competition, framed by some lightweight game theory (prisoners’ dilemma, assurance game, invisible hand)? If you cover coordination failures, public goods, and dividing the gains form cooperation you immunize people from laissez-faire triumphalism.
Take a look at Sam Bowles’s undergrad textbook. It’s a little like his “Microeconomics” without the math: http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Economics/Political/?view=usa&sf=toc&ci=9780195138658
If you truly want them to understand and enjoy the subject, spare them the unintelligible psycho-babble, pseudo-math that masquerades as economics, and simply teach them two things. They will use these two things as a basis for understanding more than virtually all of the politicians, columnists and editors and even most of the economists. The two things are:
1. The significances of the statement “All money is debt.”
2. The significances of the words “monetarily sovereign.”
For a good source of easily visualized examples, Warren Moslers, “7 Deadly Innocent Frauds” is excellent.
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
For micro I would recommend the e-book “Principles of Microeconomics” from Irma Dircks. It’s unique insofar as it presents mainstream micro in a crash-course and then serves the “on the other hand” critique (heterodox, …) Thus it takes away the “we and only we have the holy grail” claim from mainstream micro.
For macro “Understanding Modern Money” from L. Randall Wray and “Profits” from Fosters/Catchings. Both are written for the interested layman but nevertheless are superior to many “professional” macro-books. The former will provide students with insights not available to a Greg Mankiw. And the last is a readable version of the Keynes’ GT.
Ahhh … and for an intro into Marxism I would suggest “Why Read Marx Today?” from Jonathan Wolff. An easy read and no one must fear to be expelled from Texas for becoming a socialist.
I second the motion on Randy Wray, who along with Warren Mosler, is among the very, very few economists who understands the realities of post-gold standard economics.
For a quick bit of Wray-ism, I suggest: http://www.newdeal20.org/2010/02/10/the-federal-budget-is-not-like-a-household-budget-heres-why-8230/
Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
as a high school student who hit the ground running after the crisis and read and read and read until i felt like i had a semi sophisticated understanding (the general theory by keynes, both minsky’s book, randall wray’s book, monetary history of the united states by friedman, reich’s supercapitalism, in the middle of das kapital, krugman’s book, monopoly capital by paul sweezy , micheal hudson + many more) i think i am uniquely qualified to help you here. to present a pluralistic explanation i think the best way is to ask what is money and how does it determine prices, wages, financial stability etc. this is really the central thing. explain what monetarists think money is, austrians and marxists think money is and what keynesians think money is and how money works in the capitalist system. i think if you follow that vein of thought your students will have a real central understanding of what all these groups think are going on in the world and can decide for themselves what’s going on. i can give more detail on this and talk more in depth about this if you want me to just email me at tankuskeynesian@gmail.com
An Alternative to Capitalism (which we need here in the USA)
Several decades ago, Margaret Thatcher claimed: “There is no alternative”. She was referring to capitalism. Today, this negative attitude still persists.
I would like to offer an alternative to capitalism for the American people to consider. Please click on the following link. It will take you to an essay titled: “Home of the Brave?” which was published by the Athenaeum Library of Philosophy:
http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/steinsvold.htm
John Steinsvold
Perhaps in time the so-called dark ages will be thought of as including our own.
–Georg C. Lichtenberg