The authors taught financial concepts to students in 12th-grade economics classes, where one treatment was intensive in money management (MM) topics and the other was intensive in financial investment (FI) topics. Two control groups, consisting of 11th-grade students with no exposure to economics and 12th-grade economics students, received no…

Over the course of one semester, six empirical assignments that utilize FRED are used to introduce students of money and banking courses to the economic analysis required for the conduct of monetary policy. The first five assignments cover the following topics: inflation, bonds and stocks, monetary aggregates, the Taylor rule, and employment.…

In this article, the author presents an asymmetric version of the familiar public goods classroom experiment, in which some players are given more tokens to invest than others, and players collectively decide whether to divide the return to the group investment asymmetrically as well. The asymmetry between players raises normative issues about…

There are many aspects of the "economics of education" that would make excellent examples for introductory economics students. The author presents two topics that are central to the economics of education and to human capital theory: the economic benefit (or "returns") to schooling and educational attainment as an investment.…

Defined mathematically, the internal rate of return (IRR) of a cash-flow stream is the discount rate at which its net present value is 0. What is the significance or meaning of such a measure? Using simple example problems and illustrative calculations, the author explains a technically correct but, at the same time, intuitively meaningful…

The author offers innovative approaches to 3 topics that are typically only briefly mentioned (if at all) in money and banking courses. The first topic is a Treasury bill auction experiment in which students have an opportunity to participate directly. The results from a class of 14 money and banking students are used to explain how an instructor…

The authors describe a Web-based classroom experiment with two assets: cash and a stock that pays a random dividend. The interest rate on cash, coupled with a well-chosen final redemption value for the stock, induces a flat trajectory for the fundamental value of the stock. However, prices typically rise above this value during a session. The…

The authors describe a classroom experiment that illustrates the research and development investment incentives facing firms when technological spillovers are present. The game involves two stages in which student "sellers" first make investment decisions and then production decisions. The classroom game can be used to motivate…

Standard introductory textbook authors assert that an increase in government spending expands aggregate demand in the short run but also raises the interest rate and, thus, crowds out private investment in the long run. Because the decrease in investment results in a smaller capital stock, potential output or production capacity decreases. The…

Argues the diagrammatic IS-LM Model, despite its limitations, remains an important pedagogical tool for the presentation of intermediate macroeconomic theory. Proposes a modification that focuses more explicitly on stock portfolio equilibrium and will be more revealing to students. (BSR)

Several arguments that government policy--income redistribution and support of the poor, higher marginal income taxes, and social security--has depressed saving are found wanting. Also hard to sustain is the argument that investment demand has been depressed by tax policy. Current government policy will not improve saving and investment. (RM)

The authors describe the Business Conditions and Economic Analysis (BCEA) program developed at the University of Richmond. The BCEA program is an experiential learning format for economics students built on the success of student-managed investment funds (SMIF) in finance. In its initial implementation, the BCEA group conducts domestic and global…

A rationale is developed for use of computerized Monte Carlo simulation models in the economics and finance curricula. (Author)

The causes and consequences of the lag in productivity growth in the United States are examined. The productivity gap urgently requires careful attention by public policy. No trivial or costless remedies exist. (Author/RM)

Provides a graphical framework for presenting interactions among current account flows, capital account flows, and exchange rates. Suggests that the two type of flows must be considered separately in discussions of foreign exchange equilibrium and balance of payments flows. Supplies sample graphs and instructions for applying the framework to real…