Policy to address worker displacement due to automation
Phil Ruder, Pacific University
Before class, students watch a TED talk by David Autor that presents an optimistic view of the economy's ability to absorb workers who are displaced by automation into other sectors of the economy. This ...

Introductory environmental economics application
Phil Ruder, Pacific University
This application asks students to consider why the transition away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy has been so slow. Students will recognize that the price incentive favors fossil fuels due to the ...

Water pollution in the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers
Phil Ruder, Pacific University
Upon successful completion of this exercise, students will be able to argue in favor of and against proposed policies to address water pollution problems.

Natural disasters, price gouging laws, and essential goods.
Craig Heinicke, University of Richmond
Students will address the scenario in the accompanying file. They have to decide how they would react during a hypothetical disaster with respect to a price gouging law.

Operating Costs of a Business
Siny Joseph, Kansas State University
Students will answer questions related to a Planet Money podcast "Inside a Restaurant's Final Days" and reinforce their understanding of various costs of operating a restaurant.

Analyze changes in equilibrium price and quantity
brian lynch, Lake Land College
Students evaluate the impact of changes in supply and demand on the equilibrium price and quantity.

What time should a business close for the day?
G Dirk Mateer, UT-Austin
Mastery of marginal analysis can be difficult. This prompt explicitly asks why a business would stay open an extra hour to help students see why marginal thinking matters.

The price of beer and automobile fatalities: using elasticity to determine appropriate public policy
C. Lucy Malakar, Lorain County Community College
Students will use the price elasticity of demand for beer to estimate the impact of a price increase on alcohol-impaired driving fatalities and then discuss policy options to prevent them.

Trade Applications: Addressing the Decline of Manufacturing and the Challenge of Climate Change Through Trade Policy
Alan Green, Stetson University
Policy choices on two major trends are presented to student teams: the decline in manufacturing employment in the U.S. and the challenge of global climate change. Both are considered through the lens of trade ...

Oligopoly
Marcelo Clerici-Arias, Stanford University, Anita Bhide, Oriol Pons-Benaiges, Claire Xue – All at Stanford University
Investment decisions by two duopolists. Create payoff matrix with stylized payoffs and strategies, followed by finding Nash equlibria.