I’m teaching principles of macro this semester. Making macroeconomics sound important to students is partly about explaining that recessions are painful and significant.
As Alex Tabarrok says, “The Great Depression is Over!” Maybe Gen Z can appreciate the significance of the Great Depression, but it is history. Gen Z has heard of the Great Recession, but keep in mind that a student who is 20-y-o in 2024 was 4 in 2008. It’s a weird one, but there has been a recession more recently. The Covid Recession is what I like to link to, when possible, in class.
To teach the inflation chapter this week, I’m using video clips that I’ll put up here as resources for others.
To start off the inflation chapter and bring in a more global perspective, I show: “Zimbabwe’s inflation rate hits triple digits” This 2-minute news clip was produced by Al Jazeera. They talk about lending and policy in addition to retail price increases.
After we have gone through some definitions, I show two clips of an economic forecast that was recorded in 2021. I don’t usually show such long clips in class, but I’m relying on dramatic irony to make it interesting. The students know the path that inflation took from 2020 to 2024, but Dr. Doti in the video does not. I stop the video occasionally to point out connections to our textbook.
Chapman University’s 2021 Economic Forecast Update was presented virtually on Wednesday, June 16, 2021.
Dr. Jim Doti predicts that an unprecedented increase in the money supply after Covid will lead to inflation. He’s not right about everything, but that’s what makes it so interesting. Right after showing students the quantity theory of money equation, I can show them someone trying to apply it from about minute 25 to about minute 35. (don’t start the video from minute 1)
Then, I go back to my lecture and introduce the Fisher effect. Next, we watch about minute 38 to minute 43 of the 2021 forecast because of the direct connection of inflation to interest rates. Partly this just helps illustrate how messy the real world is.
Also, I pull from one of Jeremy’s 2023 posts to illustrate the long run neutrality of money. “The Rate of Inflation is Falling, But Prices are Still Rising (And So are Wages)“
Economist Writing Every Day 