News From NY

The Council for Economic Education announced today that Nan Morrison has been hired to be its next President & Chief Executive Officer. Nan will take the place of interim President & CEO Gary Stern. Best of luck to Ms. Morrison! and everyone else in New York. More here...

Strawberry Fields Not So Forever

I think there is some of that econ stuff somewhere in this here video.

SMG Spring Leaders (week 8)

Eight down, two to go, and things are getting pretty tight at the top. Your top five ranked spring teams as of today...

1. Parkview $230,874
2. Oliver Elementary $227,899
3. Westminster $226,359
4. Westminster $206,802
5. Westminster $193,414

Damn (Rich) Yankees

No surprise really, the New York Yankees are the highest paid team in the world. So if the average salary of a Yankee player is 89,000 British pounds per week, what does that equal in US dollars? Go ahead and let your students convert all of these team salaries into US dollars. Find an exchange rate table like this one and turn them loose. Do that and you should have most of SSEIN3 covered.

Econ Challenge Champs!

Super huge congratulations to Campbell High School coach Ron Wendt and his team of REALLLLLLLLY smart students for winning the 4th annual Georgia Economics Challenge today at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Campbell High nipped coach Gary Petmecky's Parkview High team 10-9 in the quiz bowl round to advance to the Econ Challenge Regional competition that will take place on April 26th. A special Econblog "thank you" to all of the teams that participated this year!

SMG Spring Leaders (week 7)

With three weeks to go a team of Parkview Panthers are holding steady at #1. ($230,786) The rest of the top five looks like this...Mt. Paran $188,498, Westminster $176,886, Oliver Elementary $175, 808 and Westminster again at $172,190.

Sunday Morning Ad of Disbelief

On what planet is there a demand for this product?
Oy.

SMG Spring Leaders (week 6)

Wheeeeee! Teams have been up and down like a roller coaster over the course of the last week. Parkview is still holding on to 1st place with a portfolio total of $231,391.00. The next four look like this... Westminster at $177,751.00, Oliver Elementary at $175,808.00, Mount Paran Christian at $175,419.00 and Westminster at $166,297.00.

Perestroika Lost...And Never Found

Nice to hear from you again Comrade Gorbachev. "By the end of the year, the Soviet Union no longer existed." Nineteen years on and I still sometimes have a hard time believing that.

Fed Boot Camp

Looking to learn more about the workings of the Fed? Looking to earn some PLU's? Looking for a little spare change? Have some free time this summer? Yes? Well then, Fed Boot Camp is for you!

June 21 through June 23 the Georgia Council will be teaming with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to conduct a three day workshop that will be focusing on the many functions of the Fed.

Two PLU's, $100 stipend, Fed speakers AND great resources. That my friends is restaurant quality stuff! Register here. Spaces are limited, and it is at the Fed, so I am thinking this one is going to sell out like a Green Day show in Oakland.

Your Weekend Quote

"Owe your banker £1,000 and you are at his mercy; owe him £1 million and the position is reversed,"

- Keynes

EconEdLink Does It Again

Our good friends at EconEdLink are at it again. This time they have produced not one, but TWO, relevant econ lessons that are timely, engaging and seriously good. Give them a look and I bet there is a place in your Macro unit that these lessons will help your students better understand GDP and CPI.

Lesson #1.

Lesson #2.

When Banks Fail

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Billion With A "B"

OK, so it turns out that Carlos Slim IS the richest person on the planet. The Forbes list is out and ready for you to share with your students. They have it all...billionaire celebrities, eligible billionaires, top billionaire cities and even billionaire homes. Why not give each of your students a billionaire to research? Have them look into how some of these folks made their $$$$ and the impact this wealth has had on the economy.

Bonus points to anyone who can tell me who the woman is in the above photo.

Cleveland (Fed) Rocks

Keep this one at the ready for your Monetary Policy unit. Great work out of you Cleveland Fed!

SMG Leaders (week 5)

The gloves are off. The gauntlet has been thrown down. A line in the sand has been drawn. Ladies and gentlemen, Parkview High is in the house! Out of nowhere a team coached by Gary Petmecky has jumped to number 1 in the standings. Ever hear the saying, "Number one with a bullet"? Yeah, well this team is number 1 with a stinger missile. $304,302.05 big ones to be exact.

2nd place- Mount Paran Christian School, $288,303.07
3rd place- Parkview High (Mark Leviton coach) $179,289.13
4th place- South Central Middle School $176,264.52
5th place- Oliver Elementary $175,748.20

Guns or Pizza Joints?

Floating Sheep is a website they you may find useful from time to time. Look here to see what it is all about.

Weekend Reading

Wyoming here we come!

Let the Short People Among Us Rejoice!

Sheesh.

How long before the airlines start charging more for "cleaner air" to breath, "brighter" overhead lights to read by or "softer seats" to sit in? Reason #7,244 to dislike the airline industry I guess.

Better Than That Fake Sugar Stuff

OK, this whole "throwback" thing has definitely gone a bit too far.
Throwback cola products? Really?
You can thank our protectionist sugar policies for this one.

Taking A Hit

It's all about perspective I guess. A furlough day or three definitely hurts the wallet just as seeing your net worth plunge by $25 billion in one year hurts the wallet. Go ahead and give Carlos Slim Helu or Warren Buffett a call and ask them how that feels.

I do love the Forbes "Richest Billionaires" list.

SMG Spring Leaders (week 4)

You guessed it, Westminster is still leading the pack. The 1st ($152,027), 3rd ($142,154) and 4th ($139,045) place teams all attend The Westminster School. Jumping to 2nd place ($144,917) was a team from Madras Middle School. Rounding out the top five ($137,807) was a team from Parkview High. Six weeks to go.

Gen I

The Personal Finance Revolution will be televised. This is something your students will dig. Grab some computers, go there, play it and learn more about financial fitness. Gen I Revolution, the game where your students work to fight the "Murktide", a nasty lack of financial understanding that is crippling the nation.

Comes with a nice teacher's guide that explains everything and makes teaching those pesky personal finance standards that much easier.