Day 2, part 1
Economics 22 -- macroeconomics
The prof is a very lively guy as reviews advertised. The class didn't dwell on the standard first day staples, so we got to some interesting stuff rather quickly. The class looks to cover the standard material, and we spent some time going over the various economic indicators we'd get intimate with (which I had already had lots of fun with at AEI). There was a discussion of what made an indicator useful: current gdp bad, real gdp better, real gdp per capita best. He did a cool example with gas prices, which when adjusted for inflation are very reasonable when comparing with past prices (gas prices during the 90s were the lowest ever). Moreover, the graphy energy costs as a percent of gdp is downward slopping because, among other things, cars are more efficient and people's wages have gone up even more (the hours worked to pay for a gallon of gas has been dropping).
One of his main goals is to teach people to identify bull shit, and he showed us several news stories (he apparently likes bringing news stories to class). One was a BBC article from 2003 that was mentioned record high gas prices, but that they weren't so high when adjusted for inflation. The story then quoted something like "while it's useful for economists to adjust prices for inflation, consumers pay in current dollars" from a AAA spokesman. Funny. Anyhow, this looks to be another good course.
The prof is a very lively guy as reviews advertised. The class didn't dwell on the standard first day staples, so we got to some interesting stuff rather quickly. The class looks to cover the standard material, and we spent some time going over the various economic indicators we'd get intimate with (which I had already had lots of fun with at AEI). There was a discussion of what made an indicator useful: current gdp bad, real gdp better, real gdp per capita best. He did a cool example with gas prices, which when adjusted for inflation are very reasonable when comparing with past prices (gas prices during the 90s were the lowest ever). Moreover, the graphy energy costs as a percent of gdp is downward slopping because, among other things, cars are more efficient and people's wages have gone up even more (the hours worked to pay for a gallon of gas has been dropping).
One of his main goals is to teach people to identify bull shit, and he showed us several news stories (he apparently likes bringing news stories to class). One was a BBC article from 2003 that was mentioned record high gas prices, but that they weren't so high when adjusted for inflation. The story then quoted something like "while it's useful for economists to adjust prices for inflation, consumers pay in current dollars" from a AAA spokesman. Funny. Anyhow, this looks to be another good course.
posted by Leon at 3/29/2006 10:58:00 AM
1 Comments:
I have installed a cool widget on my website: www.ieautorepairreview.com which will allow you to search for the lowest gasoline prices in your area, by submitting zip code, miles radius, and fuel grade. I find there is quite a bit of difference in price between stations, and the higher the price goes, the more valuable this tool is! Hope you find it helpful.
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