Monthly Archives: December 2015
PPFs and Supply curves (why PPFs are bowed out and supply curves slope up)
This is a simple "teaching" post. As a public service, and because I'm a teacher. I am just trying the get the presentation right. [The bit at the end is harder, and I'm not sure I'm happy with it.] What determines the curvature of the Production Possibilities Frontier, and how is it related to the […]
The Great Moderation: International Trends in Alcohol Consumption
December marks the start of the Christmas and holiday season in much of the world and celebration is often marked by the consumption of alcoholic beverages. The negative health effects of consuming too many alcoholic drinks are well documented and along with stricter laws on drinking and driving, the end result has been a decline […]
Just a little bit of Macro First
I don't have any easy answers to the "Micro first" vs "Macro first" debate when teaching Introduction to Economics. But this is what I do, and it seems to work a bit. And I have probably taught Intro about 30 times in my life. That experience should count for something. 1. We (Carleton University) are […]
Questions for Money/Macro Historians of Thought about “doing nothing”
First I need a long Preamble, to try to explain better what my questions are, and why they matter. I was reading Simon Wren-Lewis' good post on the centrality of monetary (and fiscal) policy (as opposed to price flexibility) on how long recessions last. (As I have said before, "Is the macroeconomy self-correcting?" is a […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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