Don R. Leet

Economics Goes to Hollywood: Using Classic Films and Documentaries to Create an Undergraduate Economics Course

Abstract The authors describe an interdisciplinary approach to teaching economics that uses a powerful contemporary medium, the motion picture, to establish the context for teaching elementary economics concepts. The plots and subplots in many films can be used to illustrate problems and issues that are amenable to economic analysis. They suggest how these films can be sequenced to create a general studies course for nonmajors.

The Determinants of the Fertility Transition in Antebellum Ohio

The cross-sectional and secular variations in the fertility of the white population in pre-Civil War Ohio are analyzed with special regard to the role of population pressure in conditioning these patterns and trends. Other factors, such as urbanization, education, cultural heritage, and the sex ratio, all of which are often cited as major explanatory variables during the demographic transition are also introduced. Although each of these variables is shown to have some impact, none can account for more than a minor proportion of the Variance in human fertility. It appears that the major force affecting both inter-county fertility and the secular trend for the state was the Variation in the degree of population pressure as measured by the average assessed value of an acre of non-urban land.

Ten Observations on High School Economics Textbooks

This study focuses on the content of eleven high school economics textbooks currently being used throughout the United States. We reviewed them with regard to their attention to the Voluntary National Standards in Economics developed under the auspices of the National Council on Economic Education. In the process of our analysis we made ten observations about these texts, including the statement that these books fall into one of two categories: large, encyclopedic volumes which we label as ‘Comprehensive’ or shorter books aimed at a specific audience which we label as ‘Specialty’ textbooks. While many of the texts have specific shortcomings, we see that the majority of them include more material than the national standards require. Overall there is less variation in the quality of high school textbooks today than was seen in earlier generations of texts; and we argue that the majority of the current crop of comprehensive high school economics texts provides a solid introduction to the economics discipline.

Consensus among Economics Teachers from Transition Economies

The authors analyze the economic opinions of teachers and economists from the former Soviet Union who participated in economic education programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education under the auspices of the National Council on Economic Education from 1995–2001. They sought to determine the level of consensus on economic topics among the participants, and then analyzed their concordance with U.S. economists. They conclude that there is a significant level of consensus among the participants from the former Soviet Union, but this consensus is often at odds with the views of American economists.

The Consequences of Public and Private Research and Development

We investigated the relationship of research and development to higher productivity and industrial efficiency. After reviewing the economic literature and finding no conclusive evidence on this subject we then proceeded to test the hypothesis that R&D does in fact promote increases in productivity which may be expected to lead to higher earnings. We found that until 1963 output per manhour and R&D expenditures in manufacturing industries were significantly related. However, for the last quinquennium (1963–1968) no statistically significant relationship could be shown. The hypothesis that the lack of correlation in the last period was due to Federally financed projects was deemed incorrect. However, it is possible that the lack of correlation was due to a poor choice of projects by the private sector or to an increase in projects which were designed to raise profits by reducing tax liabilities or simply due to activities which emphasized product development rather than efficiency generating research.