Chic-onomics:

1. Chic-onomics: Trendy Non-fiction for Your Advanced Economics Course

2. Presenters Amy Hennessy, Economic & Financial Education Specialist Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Amy.Hennessy@atl.frb.org Leah Kilfoyle, Economics Teacher Mountain Brook High School KilfoyleL@mtnbrook.k12.al.us Julie Kornegay, Economic & Financial Education Specialist Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta – Birmingham Branch Julie.L.Kornegay@atl.frb.org Sara Messina, Public Information Specialist Federal Reserve Board of Governors Sara.L.Messina@frb.gov

3. Disclaimer • The views expressed in this presentation do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, or the Federal Reserve System.

4. Print resources

5. Objective: Light a Fire! Use Trendy Non-fiction to expose your students to The Economic Way of Thinking.* Everything has a cost People choose for good reasons Incentives matter People create economic systems to influence choices and incentives People gain from voluntary trade Economic thinking is marginal thinking The value of a good or service is affected by people’s choices Economic actions create secondary effects The test of a theory is its ability to predict correctly *Source: Advanced Placement Economics Teacher Resource Manual, 3rd edition. CEE, New York, N.Y.

6. Objective: Light a Fire! Or Gregory Mankiw’s “Ten Principles of Economics”.* People face tradeoffs. The cost of something is what you give up to get it. Rational people think at the margin. People respond to incentives. Trade can make everyone better off. Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity. Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes. A country’s living standard depends on its ability to produce goods/services. Prices rise when the government prints too much money. Society faces a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. *Source: Principles of Economics. N. Gregory Mankiw, Cengage Learning Inc. 2009

7. Ten Titles in Non-fiction

8. Ten Assessment Options: Authentic and Traditional* Economic Way of Thinking Economic Terms/Concepts Real world applications Blog entries Tweets or Status Updates Cartoons Song/video Summary/Commentary Chapter Questions Test/Quiz * Include class discussion with all assessments

9. When to Assign Readings? • Summer Reading • Course Supplement • Long term project • Incentive program • Pre-requisite/screening for admission

10. Online resources

11. Online Resources Engage your students using modern media to which they relate. • Blogs • Websites • Twitter (Don’t be scared of it like I was!)

12. Blogs: A clearing house of current economic events • Greg Mankiw: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com • Paul Krugman: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com http://www.krugmanonline.com • Marginal Revolution: www.marginalrevolution.com • EconSchill: http://www.valuingeconomics.blogspot.com

13. Common Sense Economics • www.commonsenseeconomics.com • Instructor Resources • Test Bank • Hot Topics • Key Element PowerPoint presentations • Student Resources • Reading Guides • Exploring Topics • Practice Questions • Really Cool Stuff

14. The Naked Economist on Yahoo Finance Monthly column for “Expert Advice” Articles based on material in econ standards!

15. Why would I want to use Twitter? “I am surprised how many people still think Twitter is a fad or a waste of time.  I view Twitter -- or some modified future version thereof -- as everlasting.  Most of all, the search function helps you tap into a real time conversation on just about any topic you want, including the lecture you just gave.  Google is wonderful but it's hard to sort through the mess and figure out where the conversation is now.  For sampling opinion on either movies or music, Twitter is essential, or even for researching a forthcoming blog post.  Think of it as Google focused on one time-slice and giving the weight of crowd opinion no more than linear force.  If an opinion is more common it will receive more tweets but otherwise your search brings up the splat, ordered by chronology, and thus it is more idiosyncratic than the first Google search page and often in a good way. At least now, the people on Twitter are smarter on average than the people whose choices feed into Google.  I am not sure that particular benefit will last forever, If you can find some people worth following, so much the better.  But the value of the medium doesn't much depend on what they had for breakfast. Many people use Twitter to ask for advice; I have yet to learn how to do this well.” --Tyler Cowen, George Mason University Economics Professor and noted blogger

16. Who’s On Twitter? • Paul Krugman • Andrew Ross Sorkin • Robert Reich (make sure you have RBReich) • Arnold Kling • Tyler Cowen (Marginal Revolution Blog) • Russell Roberts • Greg Mankiw • Thomas Sowell

17. non-fiction &Central banking

18. Exploring Issues in Non-Fiction • Personalities of central bankers • Understanding the gold standard • Central banks in economic crisis • Yes or no to a central bank?

19. Personalities of central bankers How do central bankers’ personalities, background, experience, research interests impact their policymaking, philosophies, and responses?

20. Understanding the gold standard What are the benefits and costs of the gold standard, and what are the challenges?

21. Central banks and economic crisis How do central banks respond to economic crisis, and evaluate the effectiveness of the response.

22. Behavioral Economics Give Your Students a “Nudge”!

23. Who wants to participate in an activity?

24. Which statement best describes your attitude? Statement 1 A B I always make food choices that are in my bodies best interest. • I sometimes make food choices that I know I shouldn’t. (Ex: fried food, salt, sugar, etc.)

25. Which statement best describes your attitude? Statement 2 A B I have always saved at least 10% of my income for retirement no matter my age or salary. • I wish I would have started saving a little earlier for retirement.

26. Which statement best describes your attitude? Statement 3 A B I include some form of exercise into my routine every day. It is the most important part of my day. • I wish I had more time to exercise.

27. Which statement best describes your attitude? Statement 4 A B I know exactly how my retirement account is invested, including which companies make up any index funds. • I have trouble trying to figure out how to invest my retirement account.

28. Which statement best describes your attitude? Statement 5 A B I am good at translating problems into solutions that are solved logically. I think all things through thoroughly before acting. • I am busy and don’t have time to think deeply about everything.

29. Thank you for participating. do you more closely identify with “A” or “B”?

30. Are you a “Human” or an “Econ”? A Human B Homo Economicus Good at translating problems into terms that are solved logically Utility determines choice You can never be worse off by having more choices • Are susceptible to temptation • Do things “automatically” or without thinking

31. Choices Aren’t Always Logical Homer Simpson Spock

32. Passive Decision Making People tend to be passive decision makers. This can be described as what requires the least amount of effort. An example of this is saving for retirement.

33. Choice Architecture Framing – the idea that choices depend, in part, on the way in which problems are stated. Choice architecture can successfully nudge people toward the best decision without restricting their freedom of choice.

34. How Does the Fed Use Behavioral Economics? Boston Fed’s – Center for Behavioral Economics http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/bedm/index.htm Topics include: Behavioral aspects of price setting Household savings behavior Fairness and the Labor Market

35. How Does the Fed Use Behavioral Economics? Dallas Fed’s – Consumer Decision-making Conference http://www.dallasfed.org/news/ca/2010/10consumer.cfm The impact of complex financial markets on consumers Immediate gratification Lack of knowledge and understanding about the costs and benefits of financial services.

36. Chic-onomics: Trendy Non-fiction for Your Advanced Economics Course Economics has never been trendier! Learn to leverage popular non-fiction literature as a powerful tool for unlocking classroom discussion and promoting students’ economic way of thinking in your advanced economics course. Discover effective practices for engaging learners with the newest ideas, anecdotes, and narratives about globalization, behavioral economics, the financial crisis, and other economics content, so that your students can participate in the dismal science’s best makeover yet! We will be giving away copies of the books we discuss as door prizes so make sure you get a ticket! Saturday 8:00 – 8:50 a.m. Session H - 77