Tools, Not Rules: Are We Teaching the Wrong Principles of Economics in the Introductory Course?

The teaching of introductory economics is often organized around a set of principles. Those principles provide a useful structure around which additional discussion can be organized. Having these principles is pedagogically efficient; they make grading easier, and help students remember the material...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Eastern economic journal 2016-03, Vol.42 (2), p.163-168
Main Author: Colander, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
COLANDER'S ECONOMICS WITH ATTITUDE
Cooperation
Costs
Curricula
Decision making
Distance learning
Economic theory
Economic Theory/Quantitative Economics/Mathematical Methods
Economics
Economics and Finance
Economics education
Externality
Higher education
Incentives
Opportunity costs
Principles
Property rights
Public policy
Rationality
Students
Teaching
Textbooks
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Summary:The teaching of introductory economics is often organized around a set of principles. Those principles provide a useful structure around which additional discussion can be organized. Having these principles is pedagogically efficient; they make grading easier, and help students remember the material. Critics of economics often object to these economic principles, arguing that we are teaching the wrong principles. However, the principles we teach are fine, as long as they are presented with the appropriate nuance, by which I mean that we emphasize that the principles are tools, not rules. Used appropriately, these principles can be highly useful. Used inappropriately, these principles can undermine student's understanding of economics.
ISSN:0094-5056
1939-4632
DOI:10.1057/eej.2015.57