The Tax Game: The link between a set of taxes and income distribution is an important, but difficult, concept taught in economics principles courses. The Tax Game simulation attempts to make the concept more accessible to students by letting them design their own tax system and seeing the system's distributive impact. The Tax Game was developed by Mark Maier in the Department of Economics at Glendale Community College. One class period.
Budget Explorer: Students often come to a principles course with knowledge that is not correct. This example asks students to guess the percent of federal expenditures for different spending categories. They are then shown the actual percentages. The student results can be the source of a class discussion on why many of their initial estimates were wrong (as they generally are). Students can also create their own budget by changing the amounts spent in each category. Budget Explorer uses data from the Public Budget Database of the White House Office of Management and Budget. One class period.
Specialization and Division of Labor: This example engages students in a simple simulation of specialization and division of labor. All that is needed are staplers and some paper. One class period.
Economics and the Tragedy of the Commons: In both macroeconomics and microeconomics principles courses, economists teach the virtue of markets as an allocative mechanism. But markets sometimes fail. This example, implemented over the internet, allows students to simulate the market failure associated with a common property resource, a salmon fishery, and evaluate ways to control fishing. The simulation was developed by Paul Romer at Stanford University and is available on the Aplia web site. One Week.
MarketSim: MarketSim helps students understand the functioning of markets by having them become consumers and producers in a simulated economy. There are two versions, both implemented over the internet. Jeremy's market is a consumer barter market. Adam's market introduces firms and money. MarketSim received funding from the National Science Foundation. The principal developers are Tod Porter and Kriss Schueller at Youngstown State University. More than one week.
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Examples for Economics Principles Courses
The Tax Game: The link between a set of taxes and income distribution is an important, but difficult, concept taught in economics principles courses. The Tax Game simulation attempts to make the concept more accessible to students by letting them design their own tax system and seeing the system's distributive impact. The Tax Game was developed by Mark Maier in the Department of Economics at Glendale Community College. One class period.
Budget Explorer: Students often come to a principles course with knowledge that is not correct. This example asks students to guess the percent of federal expenditures for different spending categories. They are then shown the actual percentages. The student results can be the source of a class discussion on why many of their initial estimates were wrong (as they generally are). Students can also create their own budget by changing the amounts spent in each category. Budget Explorer uses data from the Public Budget Database of the White House Office of Management and Budget. One class period.
Specialization and Division of Labor: This example engages students in a simple simulation of specialization and division of labor. All that is needed are staplers and some paper. One class period.
Economics and the Tragedy of the Commons: In both macroeconomics and microeconomics principles courses, economists teach the virtue of markets as an allocative mechanism. But markets sometimes fail. This example, implemented over the internet, allows students to simulate the market failure associated with a common property resource, a salmon fishery, and evaluate ways to control fishing. The simulation was developed by Paul Romer at Stanford University and is available on the Aplia web site. One Week.
MarketSim: MarketSim helps students understand the functioning of markets by having them become consumers and producers in a simulated economy. There are two versions, both implemented over the internet. Jeremy's market is a consumer barter market. Adam's market introduces firms and money. MarketSim received funding from the National Science Foundation. The principal developers are Tod Porter and Kriss Schueller at Youngstown State University. More than one week.