Manchester’s biggest tourist attraction to close?
This morning's news stories include an implied threat to close MOSI (The Museum of Science and Industry) in Manchester, in order to keep the Science Museum in London open.
Should museums charge admissions fees or not? Is a museum a merit good or not? If entry is free, are you tempted to avoid placing money in the transparent collection box as you go in? If is free, how should the museum fund its activities - encouraging donations, marketing guidebooks, souvenirs, themed gifts, or reliance on government grants? This begs questions about how a government allocates scarce funds?
Florence's Uffizi Gallery does not charge children or pensioners, amongst others. Can you identify which museums have more price inelastic demand, and face a smaller drop in visitor numbers should charging be reintroduced? Why would visitors pay €18 to climb Pisa's famous leaning tower?
Bear in
mind that AQA had set a question on this topic in 2004. "Using the data and your economic knowledge, assess the case for and against providing free entry to museums."
MOSI is supposed to be one of Manchester's biggest visitor attractions, but would there be a negative multiplier effect if it closed? Should the cultural heritage be preserved? This clip from Yes Minister helps focus a debate.
http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/what-we-do/encouraging_investment/free-admission/
Teaching Resource: The Curse of Opportunity Island
The Curse of Opportunity Island is a team-based PowerPoint game where students compete to take resources from a fictitious island. As they do so, they learn about the issue of efficient use of scarce resources.
Opportunity Island is designed to be used early in the curriculum, assuming that the teacher has covered the concepts of the Basic Economic problem, scarcity and opportunity cost.
This resource is provided to all delegates attending WOW! Economics 2013 and may also be purchased separately from our online store.
read more...»Onze helden zijn terug! Our heroes are back!
Revision Quiz: AS Economics: Supply & Demand (1)
10 revision questions here (MCQs) on the basics of supply and demand.
Launch Revision Quiz: AS Economics: Supply & Demand (1)
Revision Quiz: AS Economics: PPF & Division of Labour (1)
Try this new revision quiz which has 10 multiple choice questions on the Production Possibility Frontier and the Division of Labour
Launch Revision Quiz: AS Economics: PPF & Division of Labour (1)
Revision Quiz: AS Economics: Basic Economic Problem (1)
This revision quiz has 10 multiple choice questions testing knowledge and understanding of the basic economic problem:
Launch Revision Quiz: AS Economics: Basic Economic Problem (1)
Unit 1 Micro: Video Examples of the Division of Labour
We will put together some visual resources here on the division of labour in action! Click below to access them.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Key Term Glossary - Markets and Market Failure
An updated glossary of key terms for the Unit 1 Economics paper
read more...»60 Second Adventures in Economics - The Principle of Comparative Advantage
Another core introductory concept beautifully described here by the OU - comparative advantage. David Ricardo's famous economic model, predicts that if there are just two countries and two products both can be better off if they specialise and trade in the thing they're relatively best at.
read more...»60 Second Adventures in Economics - The Paradox of Thrift
Another superb 60 second video from the OU which introduces the concept of the paradox of thrift. The Paradox of Thrift suggests that while it may be wise for an individual to save money when income is low and job prospects are precarious, it could be collectively disastrous if everyone is thrifty together. read more...»
60 Second Adventures in Economics - The Invisible Hand
In this superb new series of bitesized 60 second videos, David Mitchell introduces Adam Smith, used the term The Invisible Hand to describe the self-regulating nature of the market place - a core concept for so-called free-marketeers.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Positive and Normative Statements
This is an introductory blog note for new students of AS microeconomics. It focuses on positive and normative economics.
read more...»A Sweet Way to Introduce Economics
A great way to introduce Economics as a subject, particularly to those who have never studied it before, is to use the sweets demonstration. It goes like this...
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Child Poverty 2012 - It Shouldn’t Happen Here
In an important new report, Save the Children has highlighted the rising scale and intensity of poverty facing millions of children living in Britain's poorest families. Rising food prices,sharp increases in property rent, fewer employment opportunities and steep hikes in energy bills are just three of the factors that have affected hundreds of thousands of Britain's most vulnerable households. In the United States food stamps are required by millions. In Britain we are seeing a rapid expansion of and demand for food banks provided by charities to offer assistance to families who live hand-to-mouth for weeks and months on end.
Unit 4 Macro: World Income Groups - 2012 Classification
As of 1 July 2012, the World Bank income classifications by GNI per capita are as follows:
• Low income: $1,025 or less
• Lower middle income: $1,026 to $4,035
• Upper middle income: $4,036 to $12,475
• High income: $12,476 or more
Of the 192 member states of the United Nations, only 52 are currently classified as high-income countries. In other words, 140 countries (73 per cent) are still considered developing economies.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Capital used to Build Cross Rail
The tunnelling equipment involved in CrossRail - Europe’s biggest civil construction project - is immense in every way! This BBC news video of the earth cutting machinery is a brilliant visual to use when teaching economies of scale or introducing the concept of physical capital! The machinery is made in Germany naturally!
Unit 1 Micro: Empty Housing and Economic Efficiency
Channel 4 recently focused on the causes and effects of the hundreds of thousands of empty homes in the United Kingdom. Why is it given persistent shortages of affordable housing that perhaps a million homes lie empty and unused whilst an estimated two million families are in severe housing needs. New housebuilding has collapsed and in Britain we are building 100,000 fewer new houses every year than we need just to keep up with the changing mix of households and demographic change.
An interesting exercise is to show students some of the Channel 4 Campaign videos and then get them to put together policy ideas as to how to reduce the volume of empty homes and reduce the length of housing waiting lists.
Links to some of the Channel 4 videos can be accessed below:
read more...»Economics at the Movies: In Time
This weekend I saw this Justin Timberlake movie, In Time, which has quite an original concept – that time is a currency. The plot revolves around the idea that we all have a limited amount of time to live, but that same time is the currency we earn by working and then used to purchase consumption such as ‘4 minutes for a cup of coffee’.
read more...»Economics on YouTube
A useful clip for AS micro: barter economies. Or, alternatively, for A2 micro: perfect price discrimination.
The Principles of Economics - translated…...
Many thanks to one of my students from last year (thank you, Henry!) who has just attended his first undergraduate Economics lecture and enjoyed this YouTube clip. It shows Yoram Bauman, self-appointed Stand-up Economist, making a presentation to the AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) in 2007, in which he translates the Ten Principles of Economics.
Five minutes of good fun, at the expense of economists who take themselves too seriously, which you and your students might enjoy as a contrast to the gloom of impending meltdown - although I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun of their first lecture at university.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Sleep, Money, Happiness and Choices!
Autumn is arriving here in the UK. I cannot have been alone in finding it tough to drag myself out of bed on Friday morning to teach at the end of a tiring week. The marginal utility of an extra hour under a comfy duvet was so appealing, fortunately so too was the prospect of discussing the Greek debt crisis! Here is an interesting choice to put in front of your students - sure to prompt discussion.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Division of Labour
The division of labour occurs where production is broken down into many separate tasks. Division of labour raises output per person as people become proficient through constant repetition of a task – “learning by doing”. This gain in productivity helps to lower cost per unit and ought to lead to lower prices for consumers. But there are obvious limits to the division of labour.
read more...»Study Note - The Basic Economic Problem: Scarcity and Choice
It is often said that the central purpose of economic activity is the production of goods and services to satisfy our changing needs and wants.
Study Note - Economic Systems
Economic Systems
An economic system is a network of organisations used by a society to resolve the basic problem of what, how much, how and for whom to produce.
read more...»Study Note - Finite Resources and Sustainability
Starter Activity: Health Economics
This is a follow-up blog to Ben Cahill’s superb idea for a first lesson in economics focusing on making tough choices about resource use with a kidney dialysis machine. See: An activity for the first Economics lesson of the year!
I too will be using health care economics as a starter activity with my AS micro groups this year. I was interested in finding out some of the assumed costs of different health care treatments offered by the NHS and my research took me to published cost/price lists used by NHS Scotland. Drawing on a detailed spreadsheet I selected the following:
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Opportunity Cost -
A hat tip to John Wilson from New Zealand for spotting this superb article which looks at smarter consumer spending and using opportunity cost as a concept to put some of our many choice in context. Some great examples here that might be used at the start of an AS Micro course.
Theory Thursdays! Interesting indices
Most students will now have met indices in some shape or form in their A-level course, probably in relation to the Consumer Price Index. This extension activity helps students to develop their understanding of the construction of indices in general. As a starting point, you may want to ask your students to contribute towards the latest Economist Big Mac Index, which looks at the price of a Big Mac in various cities around the world in order to work out whether exchange rates are over- or under- valued as well as the cost of living in various countries. The Economist has asked people around the world to go into their local McDonald’s and then post the price of a Big Mac onto their online forum - you can do this here.
read more...»Lesson Worksheet - Scarcity and Choice
Here is an mcq-based worksheet on the basics of scarcity and choice.
Download lesson worksheet on scarcity and choice
What can you do with a degree in economics?
I was looking for some data on UK Universities and came upon an article featured in The Guardian (25th June 2010) titled “What to do with a degree in economics?”. It is often a question asked by both parents and pupils and could be a useful handout for colleagues.
Read the article here
