Advertising and Brands Effect on Price

Here is an in-store project that can be done with your regular Econ students. It's a non-scientific way of looking at non-price advantages that brand name products have over off-brand ones in a grocery store setting.

Will The Gulf Oil Disaster Be A Boon For The Ethanol Lobby?

The author of this article expresses his dismay at the benefits that may be reaped by the ethanol industry. He believes our love affair with corn-based fuels to be misguided.

Plummeting Marijuana Prices In Northern California

The Financial Turmoil Of The Average Family

Clicking on the title takes you to a large graphic with great detail about the average American family's finances. It's frightening!!!

Price Gouging?

As hurricane season arrives, we harken back on some of the harsher experiences and hope they never revisit. Inevitably we'll be scrambling for supplies in the wake of a big one and the less prepared among us may face a dose of sticker shock when looking for plywood or ice. Are the seemingly exorbinant prices gouging or simply a manifestation of market forces? Do we really want legislation against "gouging"? This article discusses the ramifications.

Marginal Product Calculation for AP Microeconomics

Summary: What happens to output when a firm adds more and more of a variable input to a fixed input? Eventually diminishing marginal returns set in.

In Favorite Ways to Learn Economics by David Anderson and James Chasey have an experiment "Econville Links Factory" in which students make links. I have modified the experiement so that students have to make "S" for Sharks. Students graph total product and marginal product and learn how marginal cost is related to marginal product. Here are the steps I used to make the M's.

1. I have a stack of 4" X 4" paper squares, a pair of scissors, and a blue marker. The work is completed on a desk. My rule is that a worker has to be at least touching the desk to be in the factory.

2. I add one worker and give the worker 30 seconds to make as many M's as possible.

3. After tbe round I record the total amount produced.

4. I repeat steps 2 and 3 until I have hired six workers.

Typical results are: 4, 10, 18, 24, 28, and 30.

I then ask students to look at the total product curve and identify when diminishing marginal returns set in. I show how specialization lead to a greater production of goods with less resources.