Environment and the Economy | A Curriculum from the Foundation for Teaching Economics
FTE's The Environment and the Economy has a triple focus: economics content, economic reasoning, and developing a critical thinking/teaching model: Content: the economic content perspective on environmental issues; Reasoning: employing economic reasoning to better understand environmental issues and behavior; Pedagogy: modeling an intellectual approach to controversial issues.
more fromfte.org
Paul Krugman - Bits, Bands and Books - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com
In the future, will everything be free? Well, maybe not everything, but lots more will. Krugman explains why: "...the ease with which digital content can be copied and disseminated would eventually force businesses to sell the results of creative activity cheaply, or even give it away. Whatever the product — software, books, music, movies — the cost of creation would have to be recouped indirectly: businesses would have to “distribute intellectual property free in order to sell services and relationships.”
more fromwww.nytimes.com
Obama or McCain - who’s better for Housing Market | Wexzilla - Phoenix | Scottsdale Real Estate
Blogger James Wexler summarizes McCain and Obama's strategies for dealing with America's housing crisis: "Sen. Obama has suggested $10billion in government funding to help homeowners sell their homes of modify their loans to avoid bankruptcy or Foreclosure. Sen. McCain feels like this is a bailout. He feels struggling homeowner and borrowers should share the responsibility and if helped should share equity (if there is a gain) with the lender and Federal Government. Obama wants the government to lend money to struggling home owners. Money which usually comes in the form of higher taxes McCain has pledged to eliminate (AMT ) taxes. A break that many Americans want (and need). However AMT tax cut with other extended tax cuts leaves less money for such help to home owners. Unless, other government programs are sacrificed. A move, most do not want."
more fromwexzilla.com
What is Driving the High Oil Prices?
"High oil prices are here to stay due to heightened political risks, irresponsible behavior by oil-producing governments and growing global demand outside U.S. control. Oil is a finite resource which is produced by a partially cartelized imperfect market. Consumer countries should expand cooperation in order to level the playing field and reduce prices by increasing investment and production, promoting conservation, and diminishing geopolitical risks. Yet, in the long term, high demand, inadequate supply and severe geopolitical risks combine to make oil a problematic transportation fuel."
more fromwww.heritage.org
FT.com / World - Emerging-market cities climb world rankings
Shanghai ranked one of the best cities in the world for global commerce: "Shanghai jumped into the top 25 in this year’s index, joining seven other Asian cities in this group with an eight-position jump that was the most of any city in the index. Among the world’s most populous and fastest-growing cities, Shanghai’s position in the index was bolstered by its economic stability, its legal and political framework, an increased quality of life and China’s booming economy."
more fromwww.ft.com
Why the oil boom will eventually bust - Jun. 6, 2008
Are high oil prices here to stay? This article suggests they're not. New supplies will come online at the same time that consumers start to conserve and switch towards alternative energies. "The longer prices stay stratospheric, the worse the eventual crash - simply because the higher the prices and bigger the profit margins, the bigger the incentive to over-produce. It's even possible that, a few years hence, we could see a sustained period of plentiful oil supplies and low prices, meaning $50 or below."
more frommoney.cnn.com
Fitch: China's economy to weather through quake - People's Daily Online
"The international rating agency, Fitch, believes that neither this year's heavy snow nor strong earthquake will have much of a negative impact on China's economy..."
more fromenglish.people.com.cn
Bernanke: Gloomy on growth - Jun. 3, 2008
"[H]ouseholds continue to face significant headwinds, including falling house prices, a softer job market, tighter credit, and higher energy prices, and consumer sentiment has declined sharply since the fall," said Bernanke, addressing the International Monetary Conference in Barcelona via satellite. At the same time, Bernanke said that some of the more troubled aspects of the economy are starting to show signs of stability. He said the battered financial markets had "improved of late but conditions remained strained." He also said the pressures on the U.S. economy are being softened somewhat by foreign demand for U.S. goods and services. "We may see somewhat better economic conditions during the second half of 2008, reflecting the effects of monetary and fiscal stimulus," he said.
more frommoney.cnn.com
PintPrice.com - the price of beer anywhere in the world
The price of beer in 200 countries. Pint Price is a database of World Beer Prices. Use this site to find the best watering nation. Pint Price has also been described as an important economic iindicator...
more fromwww.pintprice.com
APAC 2008 - Program
The AP Annual Conference in Seattle features two and a half days of economics specific workshops. This looks great and I hope to attend! "Participants will learn about new technology available to enhance student learning, such as interactive textbooks, blogs, and virtual classrooms." This sounds right up my alley!
more fromwww.collegeboard.com
Working with Teens: Teaching Personal Finance on a High School Level by Weakonomics.com
Should schools start teaching personal finance? Come to think of it, which skill are more important for life beyond high school: understanding the intricacies of fiscal and monetary policies, the ballance of payments, and profit maximization rules? Or how to balance your own checkbook? "There are plenty of subjects that can’t get crammed into a course in just a year or half-year. They are no less important, but require the basic knowledge taught here before they can be understood. Insurance is a big one, and though taxes are touched on, they need their own class! Maybe someday a curriculum could be established. If you know of any schools the require this already, let me know. If your kid’s school doesn’t, talk to the teachers and principals about a class."
more fromweakonomics.com
How low can America grow? | Free exchange | Economist.com
A question I have been pondering is whether slow GDP growth combined with high inflation actually means that negative GDP growth. In other words, with GDP growing around .2% and the price level at around 4%, is the US actually experiencing negative real GDP growth of -3.8%? According to this blog post, NO: "it's not true that high inflation means real output growth is negative, since the GDP figure quoted is itself a real figure. (Although many observers, like Barry Ritholtz, believe that official inflation numbers are understating inflation). But discussions about whether a recession might be u-, or v-, or curlicue-shaped seem a bit off at the moment. Instead, the economy is essentially flatlining just a hair above zero growth. "
more fromwww.economist.com
CPI Inflation Calculator
This is a cool little tool for calculating the rate of inflation. Plug in any two years and see how much "buying power" a dollar had in one year relative to another. Great for illustrating Consumer Price Index. From http://www.bls.gov/CPI/
more fromdata.bls.gov
Buffett says U.S. is in recession - May. 25, 2008
"I believe that we are already in a recession," Buffet was quoted as saying. "Perhaps not in the sense as defined by economists. ... But people are already feeling the effects of a recession." "It will be deeper and longer than what many think," he added.
more frommoney.cnn.com
China and the Development Myth - D.W. MacKenzie - Mises Institute
Is China's economic success a result of the government's close management of market activity? Or is China's economic success actually a myth in itself? As the author says "While it had been thought that 100 million Chinese live on less than one dollar per day, there are actually 300 million Chinese living on less than one dollar per day." The author refutes claims that close government regulation creates higher, more long term growth, claiming that "We can see the strength of the case for economic freedom even more clearly through proper economic theorizing. Free-market economists like Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises arrived at the proper conclusions regarding socialism and interventionism long before the evidence on modern state planning was in."
more frommises.org
The Foundry » Blog Archive » Morning Bell: Cap and Trade Already Killing U.S. Economy
The conservative bloggers at the Heritage Foundation's "Foundry" blog think that an emiisions cap and trade system is the source of all energy woes in the US. I ardently disagree. Be sure to read the comments, where I express another side of the story.
more fromblog.heritage.org
The Economist Has No Clothes: Scientific American
"Unscientific assumptions in economic theory are undermining efforts to solve environmental problems" Sent to me by a friend from work, will have to read this, sounds very interesting!
more fromwww.sciam.com
Powell Center for Economic Literacy - 2008 National AP Economics Teacher Conference
The Powell Center and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond hosts the annual AP Economics teachers conference. Keynotes include Tim Harford of the "Undercover Economist" and George Mason University's Russell Roberts, host of the outstanding podcast EconTalk. I'm really hoping my new principal will support my attending this conference, all the way from Zurich!
more fromwww.powellcenter.org
Need to know - Times Online
Facts and figures everyone needs to know about the economy in this time of economic hardship. (there are five pages, be sure to click through to read them all!)
more frombusiness.timesonline.co.uk
IDE - Enabling Prosperity
IDE Myanmar has operations in practically all of the cyclone-affected areas in the Irrawaddy Delta, and is hence positioned well to provide aid where it is most needed. Here’s what we are doing: IDE has targeted 20 township areas that are affected, containing an estimated 8,000 -9,000 villages. About 125 staff have been mobilized to work in these areas - approximately six per township. The initial focus will be on providing immediate relief but rebuilding the agricultural and food security systems will receive equal priority and attention.
more fromwww.ideorg.org
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