Issue 2, Spring 1991

William A. McEachern, Editor

Grapevine

• Kathryn Larson of Elon College has developed a micro principles course that is linked to a business math course offered the same term. Before the semester starts, the teachers in each course coordinate their syllabi so the tools taught in the math course track with the applications in the micro course. A student must enroll in both courses. Problem sets in the math course apply to economic problems covered in the micro course. Professor Larson meets periodically with the math professor to ensure congruence. In lieu of a final exam, the student writes a single paper linking material in each course.

• Dwayne Key of Stephen F. Austin State University has the class employ data provided in the media to calculate economic variables. For example, after the invasion of Kuwait, his students used published reports on the quantity of oil sold at alternative prices to estimate the price elasticity of demand. As another example, the return of pitcher Nolan Ryan to the Texas Rangers prompted students to use projections of increased game attendance to estimate Ryan's marginal impact on team revenues and on the revenues of local merchants. Students were then asked how much money Ryan should request.

• Ed Atzenhoefer of Clark State Community College requires students to follow a particular topic in the press during the term. For example, during a macro term the student might track articles discussing unemployment, inflation, or the federal deficit. During the micro term, the student might follow competition in a particular industry, poverty data, or environmental issues. Once a topic is selected, students identify specific learning objectives and negotiate a submission date for the final report.

• Lavonne Straub of Western Illinois University requires students to write a series of one-page papers that analyze the economic content of newspaper articles dealing with topics covered in class. She is surprised by the variety of articles students find; among her 60 students, she gets very little duplication. She says that the student response to the assignment has been overwhelmingly positive.

• Polly Allen, my colleague at the University of Connecticut, selects lecture material based on the following criterion: from all the possible topics that could be discussed, what most would she like students to understand. If the material calls for graphs, she spends time at the outset providing intuition and institutional context. She also relates the topic to current events when possible. Only after setting the table in this way does she get into the graphs.

• During the first week of the term, John Dahlquist of the College of Alameda offers a crash course in graphs. At the end of the week, students are given a test that will count only if the score exceeds the student's term average. Professor Dahlquist has also made two short animated films, one focusing on the distinction between demand and quantity demanded, and the other focusing on supply versus quantity supplied. Write him for more details on the films: 555 Atlantic Ave. Alameda, CA 94501.

• K.R. Nair of West Virginia Wesleyan College relate the following: "Eight a.m. class. Students hate the hour. They fall asleep. Nothing can keep them awake. Then I throw a rather difficult question at them for five points. The class comes alive. 'Can you repeat the question?' . . . No one is sleepy anymore."

• The degree of vertical integration depends on a variety of factors. Producers sometimes integrate backward so they can offer consumers a guarantee about the quality of ingredients. For example, Frank Perdue can talk about the health and quality of his chickens because the company makes no claim about raising them. Instead, their ads focus on such things as the secret ingredients used to fry the chicken, or the fact that by specializing in cooking only chicken ("We do chicken right!"), the company does a better job than other fast food franchises that sell much more besides chicken. By the way, McDonald's has recently been test marketing pizza (I tried some and thought it was pretty bad). You might discuss with the class why some firms integrate forward or backward and the problems that can arise when one firm tries to do too many different things.

• Until the summer of 1988, Boston's Logan Airport had charged planes a landing fee based on their weight. This meant that small planes paid only a tiny fraction of landing fees paid by large airlines. The problem was that small planes were congesting the airport, especially during peak periods. That summer the airport increased landing fees on small planes from $25 to over $100. As a result, private aircraft traffic fell by 30 percent. Total passengers using the airport actually increased, however, because larger aircraft filled in the landing spots vacated by small aircraft.

• One problem with the public ownership of resources is that nobody in particular owns them. Commonly owned resources are subject to the "common pool problem": resources are abused because the personal gain from short-run abuse exceeds the personal loss arising from a deterioration of the resource. The same sort of rationale explains why short-term rental cars have such a short life span even though they are serviced more frequently than are private automobiles. People tend to drive rental cars into the ground.

Top