I created these guided notes to accompany introductory lectures on topics from an Introduction to Economics course (including both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics) at the post-secondary level. Videos for Topics 10-16 can be found in playlists on my YouTube Channel. I’d love to hear your classroom experiences or feedback – my email address is on my CV.
1. Introduction to Economics and Rational Choice (pdf) (docx)
Media: The Paradox of Value (Video)
2. Specialization and Trade (pdf) (docx)
Media: I, Pencil: The Movie (Video)
3. Supply and Demand (pdf) (docx)
Media: What’s Driving Low Gas Prices? A Global Oil Glut (Audio)
Late Potato Planting Could Affect French Fry Supply (Audio)
The Equilibrium Price and Quantity (Video)
4. Elasticity (pdf) (docx)
Note: These notes use point elasticity, not the midpoint formula.
Media: Analysis: Here’s why Netflix won’t raise prices again in 2020 (Article)
How Much Money Should The Tooth Fairy Leave? (Video)
Elasticity and Slave Redemption (Video)
5. Efficiency (pdf) (docx)
Media: Shut up and Take My Money (Video / Popular Meme)
6. Price Controls (pdf) (docx)
Media: The Origin Of Government Cheese (Video)
Rent Control in Mumbai (Video)
7. Taxes (pdf) (docx)
Media: Nearly all of Seattles Soda Tax is being passed on to consumers, new report shows (Article)
8. International Trade (pdf) (docx)
Media: Cost of Protectionism (PowerPoint Slides)
What washing machine prices tell us about the impact of tariffs (Audio)
How to Enrich a Country: Free Trade or Protectionism? (Video)
Reference: The Fruits of Free Trade, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 2002 Annual Report
US Tire Tariffs: Saving Few Jobs at High Cost, Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2012
9. Market Failure (pdf) (docx)
Media: Negative Externalities (PowerPoint Slides)
Positive Externalities (PowerPoint Slides)
Trading Pollution (Video)
Public Goods (Video)
What is Tragedy of the Commons? (Video)
10. Production (pdf) (docx)
Media: How Sriracha is Made (Video)
11. Competition (pdf) (docx)
Media: How to start a Magazine and Make a Profit (Article)
The Invisible Hand (Video – stop at 7:40)
13. Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly (pdf) (docx)
Media: Bread Collusion in Canada (Video)
Golden Balls (Video and Discussion)
14a. Macroeconomic Indicators (pdf) (docx) – In Class Version
Media: The Invention of ‘The Economy’ (Audio Clipped at 3:18)
Fred Data (PowerPoint)
The Yield Curve (Video)
Structural Unemployment (Video)
14b. Macroeconomic Indicators (pdf) (docx) – Asynchronous Video Version
Media: What is Gross Domestic Product? (Video)
Defining the Unemployment Rate (Video)
Frictional Unemployment (Video)
Structural Unemployment (Video)
Cyclical Unemployment (Video)
15a. Money and Banking (pdf) (docx) – In Class Version
Media: Quantity Theory of Money (Video)
How the Fed Worked: Before the Great Recession (Video)
How the Fed Works: After the Great Recession (Video)
15b. Money and Banking (pdf) (docx) – Asynchronous Video Version
Media: StoryBots Money Song (Video)
Saving and Borrowing (Video)
What do Banks do? (Video)
How the Fed Worked: Before the Great Recession (Video)
How the Fed Works: After the Great Recession (Video)
Quantity Theory of Money (Video)
Causes of Inflation (Video)
What is the Real Interest Rate? (Video)
Venezuela crisis: the view from Caracas farmers’ market (Video)
16a. Long-Run Growth and Short-Run Business Cycle Fluctuations (pdf) (docx) – In Class Version
Media: Hans Rosling’s 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes (Video)
Game of Theories: The Great Recession (Video)
16b. Long-Run Growth and Short-Run Business Cycle Fluctuations (pdf) (docx) – Asynchronous Video Version
Media: Hans Rosling’s 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes – The Joy of Stats (Video)
Sticky Wages (Video)
Introduction to Fiscal Policy (Video)
The Limits of Fiscal Policy (Video)
The Dangers of Fiscal Policy (Video)
Why the Coronavirus Recession is Unlike Any Other (Video)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
