How to handle externalities caused by your roommate
G Dirk Mateer, UT-Austin
After completing this exercise students will understand how to identify mutually beneficial gains from trade, achieve socially optimal results, and minimize negative externalities.

Comparing benefits and costs of attending an event.
Shelby Frost, Georgia State University
Students should think of all the relevant factors to consider when making rational decisions, including all opportunity costs of each choice.

Is a good inferior, normal or a luxury?
G Dirk Mateer, UT-Austin
Income elasticity is something most college students deal with since they have budget constraints. This causes them to make hard decisions about what they can afford.

How can we adjust student college benefits for the cost of living?
Mark Maier, Glendale Community College
Student teams predict the impact of college proposal to adjust financial aid based on inflation measured by the CPI. Students must use concepts related to the construction of price indices.

The evolution of federal budget surpluses and deficits in the U.S. since 1970.
Natalia Smirnova, University of Connecticut
Students analyze the United States federal budget surplus/deficit as a fraction of gross domestic product (GDP) and discuss the evolution of federal budget surpluses and deficits since 1970. Students propose ...

Unemployment and Health Insurance Coverage
Diego Mendez-Carbajo, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Students will search for data on unemployment and health insurance coverage, mapping them and underscoring the reasons for reductions in health insurance coverage when unemployment increases.

Firm's reaction to news about profits
Phil Ruder, Pacific University
In this activity, students consider a firm's reaction to news reporting about the level of its profits. The exercise presents the puzzle of a firm's alarmed response to news of positive profits. The ...

Are Imports Bad for the Economy?
Ishani Tewari, Curry College
Students learning the expenditure approach often conclude that "imports reduce GDP." The activity attempts to dispel this misconception and pushes students to think about imports as an accounting variable ...

Elasticity and tax incidence
Shelby Frost, Georgia State University
The point of this AE is get students to understand how the relative price elasticities of supply and demand are what really determine who bears the burden of an excise tax.

The Civilian Unemployment Rate and the Natural Rate of Unemployment
Laurence Malone, Hartwick College
The Unemployment Rate Activity Exercise helps students to appreciate the relationship between the Civilian Unemployment Rate and the Natural Rate of Unemployment, and how tight labor markets can benefit wage ...