Putting the "De" in Deregulation

R.I.P. Alfred Kahn. You were the reason why I was once able to fly from Buffalo to NYC for a mere $19.00.

Happy holidays from all of us at the Georgia Council.

Georgia Ports

Georgia Trend magazine has a great piece about the state-wide economic impact of Georgia's ports. Thousands and thousands of jobs directly and/or indirectly associated with the ports. Billions in annual revenue generated as a result of the ports and plenty of tax revenue going to the state because of the very same ports.

Include this article in your next International unit as a way to highlight Georgia's unique position as one of the leading states for global trade and commerce. I bet everyone in Idaho, Montana and Arkansas must be jealous of our bustling ports.

Your Weekend Reading

The "Economists Can Take the Fun Out of Everything" edition.

SMG Champion, Fall 2010

Super-huge congratulations to the team from Parkview High that came from behind to claim 1st place in the fall 2010 Stock Market Game simulation during the last week of competition. With an impressive final portfolio total of $276,235.02, the team bested the 2nd place team by more than $80,000.00.

The winning team, coached by Mark Leviton, will be honored at the annual Stock Market Game simulation luncheon in May.

Thank you to all of the students and teachers that participated.

Uneven it Is

And Flow it Does

Those Are Some Expensive Turtle Doves!

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 Christmas Price Index.

Anyone want to loan me $23,000.00?

Hans is the Man

Do yourself a huge favor and show this to your students. They will thank you for it...I promise.

I want to hang out with Hans Rosling for a day or two. Seems like the kind of guy who I could learn about 50 zillion things from by just standing near him.

Tax Breaks R Us

Today class we will be spending a little time talking about taxes. Everyone hates paying them. Nobody enjoys being taxed. Everyone is in the same boat when it comes to paying taxes right?

Well, maybe not. VERY interesting AJC article about tax breaks and who gets them. My favorite of the bunch? Easily this beauty...."materials used to construct an eligible corporate attraction that is dedicated to the history and products of a corporation which costs at least $50 million and has 60,000 square feet of space, including parking and landscaping."

Now that is one narrowly written tax break. I wonder how many companies would/could qualify for that one? Hmmmm.

Here is my idea for a tax break- it should go to 44 year-old guys who drive silver Honda Fit's who were born in a city that rhymes with Shuffalo who used to teach high school econ in a school that is less than 12 years old. Sounds perfectly fair to me!

SMG Week 9

Five more days to go and here is what we have...

1st place...Youth Middle School with $186,904.61
2nd place...Mountain View High School with $181,149.36
3rd place...Loganville Middle School with $174,359.70
4th place...Loganville Middle School with $162,574.16
5th place...Oliver Elementary School with $156,682.52

The finish line is near.

Your Weekend Reading

The "Good Question" edition.

Inside Job Review

Finally got out to see Inside Job over the Thanksgiving break. Going in I knew many of the details of the movie so I was not really surprised at what I saw but I still had a few "damn" moments along the way. As in, Damn!, that is totally nuts or wrong or unbelievable, etc.

I don't know if I will ever be able to get my head around the fact that some people at the center of the global financial collapse walked away with hundreds of millions of dollars ($470,000,000.00 in the case of Mr. Angelo Mozilo) while us lowly taxpayers were left holding the bag.

"Financial engineers build dreams, when those dreams turn out to be nightmares other people pay for it." I concur.

More here.

SMG Week 7

Things are starting to get interesting as we head to the finish line. The top five....

1. Mountain View High...$184,114.36
2. Loganville Middle...$171,260.92
3. Hightower Trail Middle...$160,301.45
4. Youth Middle School...$148,535.93
5. Parkview High...$145,678.25

December 10th is coming up on us fast.

Back in the USSR

Well done comrade.

Your Weekend Reading

The "Maybe it's time to go on holiday to Ireland" edition.

Thanks

Thanksgiving....the one and only time each year when I wished I was the
home economics teacher instead of the economics teacher.

GCEE Winter-Spring 2011

The 2011 GCEE workshop schedule is now up and running at www.gcee.org. Go take a peak to see what workshops would be a good fit for you. As always, we have workshops for teachers at elementary, middle and high school. We will be out there delivering content and materials from Albany to Macon to Savannah to Valdosta to Rome to Atlanta and many points in between.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Econ Photo Shoot

A good sign that your nation's currency is in bad shape.

SMG Week 6

The more things change the more they stay the same. Your week six Stock Market Game rankings...

1. Loganville Middle...$169,653.19
2. Mountain View High...$159,070.58
3. Oliver Elementary...$142,884.82
4. Youth Middle School...$142,852.95
5. Hightower Trail Middle...$140,860.03

Your Weekend Reading

The "Stats Matter" edition.

Budget Cutting Fun!

The NY Times has this nice little interactive feature that allows you to close that Godzilla sized budget gap. Go ahead Mr./Mrs. Smarty Pants, give it a try. What say you? Was it easy or hard to get done what our elected officials simply cannot seem to do on their own?

Take the kids to a computer lab and let them have a crack at this. I bet they find it more interesting than that lecture you just gave on the advantages and disadvantages of insurance.

SMG Week 5

Half way there and we continue to have movement in the top 5. Some go up... while others head in the other direction.

Your current rankings-

1. Mountain View High (Gwinnett Co.) $162,727.52
2. Parkview High (Gwinnett Co.) $155,703.51
3. Parkview High (Gwinnett Co.) $149,598.85
4. Loganville Middle (Walton Co.) 143,339.46
5. Hightower Trail Middle (Cobb Co.) $142,255.45

Your Weekend Reading

The "Everyone in America Should Read This Carefully" edition.

The deficit-reduction commission report.

The Curious Case of Brazilian Cotton Subsidies

A nice follow up to yesterday's farm subsidy post. Want to really get the kids fired up? Drop this little doozy of a story on their desks. That's right, we are subsidizing US cotton growers AND Brazilian cotton growers as well. I feel like this should entitle me to a free week vacation on Ipanema beach or something.

Ah, the tangled web we weave when we start doling out those farm subsidies.....Special Econ blog tip of the hat to Mark Jeffrey for sending this article along!

Farm Subsidy

Looking for a better way to discuss subsidies with your students? This website may help you "bring it home" to the state where your students reside. It's easy to tell students that farm subsidies add up to a large chunk of change but this site will allow you to be a bit more specific with just how large that chunk really is.

According to the site, everything in Texas really is bigger....including the amount of farm subsidies they are pulling in each year. The Lone Star state is not so "lone", ranking #1 on the list of most heavily subsidized farm states.

Georgia ranks 16th in the nation, with 30% of all farmers receiving subsidy payments.

Call Centers

The call center dilemma. Sure, the workers get paid quite a bit less than their US counterparts, but are they really helping the customers or are they just making a bad situation worse?

The lady with the hammer tells her story.

SMG Week 4

You wanted movement...I've got your movement. Your weekly rankings.

1. Parkview High...$202,215.00
2. Mountain View High...$166,462.00
3. Loganville Middle...$153,009.00
4. Oliver Elementary...$151,860.00
5. Parkview High...$148,361.00

Your Weekend Reading

The "This is sure to raise a few eyebrows" edition.

SMG Week 3

Ladies and gentlemen....your top five.

1. Loganville Middle...........$152,115.99
2. Mountain View High......$148,742.66
3. Parkview High................$136,415.68
4. Youth Middle..................$130,263.72
5. Long Cane Middle..........$129,248.59

Numbers

Put this one in the "really cool and useful" website column. At some point in the semester you will be asked a question that can be answered right here.

SMG Week 2

At the completion of the 2nd week....

1. Loganville Middle- $148,239.00
2. Lewis Frasier Middle- $138,653.00
3. Long Cane Middle- $138,208.00
4. Parkview High- $129,338.00
5. White County High- $128,553.00

Keep up the good work everyone! See you back here next week.

Master of Your Economic Domain

Tired of doing all the heavy lifting in your class? Why not let Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer lend a hand in the teaching of economics?

Seinfeld, the economist.

Your Weekend Reading

The "GM Government Bailout" good or bad version.

Did You Know?

Oh, how I love these things. Great way to kick off your trade unit. Technology makes trade faster, easier, less expensive. The future....wow, I look forward to it.

The Daily Chart

A nice little resource to help your kids apply what they are learning in your class to what is happening out there in the real world can be found right here. The Economist magazine's "Daily charts" feature is quality stuff. From unemployment rates in reunified Germany to global taxation rates, it's almost a guarantee that you will find something useful.

SMG Rankings

At the end of week #2 a team of students from Loganville Middle School in Walton County are leading the pack with a portfolio total of $139,241.77. Not bad for 14 days of investing.

The rest of the top five...

2. Lewis Frasier Middle School, Liberty County
3. Youth Middle School, Walton County
4. Chicopee Elementary School, Hall County
5. White County High School, White County

The Chairman Speaks

On September 30th Chairman Bernanke sat down with teachers all across the country to discuss his job, the economy and the role of the Federal Reserve. In conjunction with the Chairman's Q & A session, the Georgia Council conducted a workshop at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta that focused on the current economic crisis. In addition to hearing the Chairman speak, teachers had an opportunity to take a look at the latest CEE publication that will be out soon.

Your Weekend Reading

The "give me my kimchi or give me death" edition. A wonderful way to introduce the concept of scarcity and/or shortages perhaps? And hey, why not bring in the globalization side of this story as well while you are at it?

Inside Job

This is a movie that everyone at the Global HQ is really looking forward to seeing as soon as it makes its way to the ATL.

Your Weekend Reading

The Minneapolis Fed student essay contest winner edition.

Students were asked to explain why obesity rates are on the rise and what types of policies, if any, could be used to curb this trend.

More on the economics of obesity can be found right here. "Modern society is giving Americans many more incentives to gain weight than to lose it."

Thank You, Come Again

Nothing "Lucky" About That

Ouch.

Fed Video Competition

Know any college kids that love econ and like to shoot videos? If so, point them in this direction. It could earn them a cool $1,000 U.S. Savings Bond.

Your Weekend Reading

The "China just will not listen!" edition.

Hands on Banking

Take a close look at those standards and you will see personal finance in grades K-12. The hard part of finding resources to teach these standards is not always an issue of nothing out there to be found. No, it's just the opposite. It seems that every bank, financial planner and state government out there has their own version of personal finance educational resources for teachers and students. Go ahead and add "Hands on Banking" to this list. With resources for adults, young adults, teens and kids, there really is something for everyone.

Freakonomics....The Movie

This has to be a "must see" for every econ teacher out there.

Rejoice!

Ladies and Gentleman....our long national nightmare appears to finally be over. Our good friends at Nestle/Libby's have announced that the great pumpkin shortage of 2009 is officially a thing of the past. The key to it all? Plant early and plant often. Now go ahead and print this econ saturated article for your students.

If you need me I will be at home in the kitchen baking some pies.

Your Weekend Reading

The "money" Warren Buffett quote edition.

Updated

Ladies and gentlemen...your new and improved "EconEdLink"!

Lesson plans a plenty.

Your Weekend Reading

The "Getting Back to Work in Cuba" edition.

Dynamic Pricing

I think every cafeteria in every school across this expansive land of ours should look into this dynamic pricing model. Just imagine...it's the last lunch period of the day, turkey gravy over mashed potatoes is on the menu for the 15th Thursday in a row and it's sunny outside. I'm thinking the price of that meal should fall to about $2.10.

As a consumer who wants to save a little $$$$ you just have to hold out for a Hawks or Thrashers game when they are on a serious losing streak and they are playing an equally horrible team. Sure, the game will most likely be totally abysmal but at least you will save a good chunk of change!

This One Goes to 11

Want to have some fun the next time you take your students to the computer lab? Show your students this Newsweek link and then get the heck out of the way for a few minutes. Make sure they look at the interactive portion of the story as it will allow them to compare/contrast the United States to 99 other countries in categories related to quality of life, education, health, politics and economics.

The biggest question I have is this...How on earth can there be 18 countries on this list that score lower than Cuba in the "Economic Dynamism" category?

Scarcity Issues

Dear Airlines,

Just go ahead and take the seats out of the planes already so you can have all of us stand in one huge mass like a bunch of warehoused chickens crammed together waiting for our inevitable dates with "Mr. Slicer."

23 inches of leg room! Saddle seats! On what planet does this sound like a winning idea?

Annoyed in Atlanta,
Econblog 1

Income

How wealthy are you? Where do you rank compared to the people living in your community? In the last ten years has your wealth increased or decreased? Is income distribution in the United States or Nicaragua more unequal?

Author Timothy Noah's series answers these questions and plenty more. Be sure to check the graphs and charts as well. These would make great practice reading for your students.

Your Weekend Reading

The "Those kicks sure look real to me" version.

Jam

By now you have probably heard of the 60 mile long Chinese traffic jam. That is some quality stuff. Sharing this story with your students is a no-brainer as you can bring in scarcity, supply/demand, economic growth, price gouging..... and you can talk about the traffic jam based "economy" that has sprung up overnight. Someone has to feed and provide essentials for those stuck in the jam.

This is going to make me rethink my shaky relationship with the 285 in Atlanta.