Category Archives: Teaching Economics

I find the first day of the school year to be exciting, especially when a lot of first-year students are in my classes as is the case with Economics 1, the introductory economics course I teach at Stanford and the course … Continue reading →

With the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 approaching people have been asking me to write about the impact of 9/11 on economic policy making in Washington, where I ran the international division of the U.S. Treasury at the time, and to … Continue reading →

You cannot really understand monetary economics or monetary policy without knowing economic history. No self-respecting monetary economist goes to work without knowing the ins and outs of historical periods like the Depression of the 1930s or great works on such periods, … Continue reading →

Last week at Stanford the American Economic Association hosted its first conference ever on teaching economics. It was a great success and a second conference will be held in Boston next year, sponsored by the Journal of Economic Education (JEE). … Continue reading →

This year I was honored to speak at Stanford’s Memorial Day military appreciation barbecue. There are now 51 enrolled Stanford students who are veterans. I was once a Stanford student veteran. In 1969 I temporarily left Stanford’s Ph.D. program in … Continue reading →

On PBS NewsHour yesterday Peter Thiel argued that the opportunity cost of college may be surprisingly high for many students, and indeed, as widely reported this past week, he raised the opportunity cost for some impressive 20 Under 20 prize-winning … Continue reading →

Anyone who has served in the military during the nearly ten years since 9/11 must feel a sense of closure with Bin Laden’s death. As Lindsay Wise writes in the Houston Chronicle “Bin Laden’s death is a dramatic morale booster … Continue reading →

As a respite from comparing the “Keynesian cross” versus the “dynamic stochastic general equilibrium” model, watch this “Keynes” versus “Hayek” video with lyrics written by John Papola and my colleague Russ Roberts. But my favorite lines are more micro than … Continue reading →

The American Economic Association has just chosen my colleague Jon Levin to receive the John Bates Clark Medal awarded each year to the best economist under the age of forty. Congratulations Jon! And a good prediction by Justin Lahart of … Continue reading →

Each year since 1948 the American Economic Association and the American Finance Association hold a joint luncheon with an invited speaker. Over the years the luncheon has grown to a very large affair usually held in the big hotel ballrooms. … Continue reading →