Nickel and Dimed

wheat market slides

Graph the following headline: Ms. O'Neill takes a tumble walking down the stairs during a break in parent teacher conferences, breaking her fibula.  What happens to the demand for crutches at Good Samaritan Hospital?

Create a production possibilities curve for her right ankle:  what are the opportunity costs involved in this situation?

Sad but true.  I have surgery scheduled for Tuesday to align the bones and will be back in the classroom just as soon as I am able.  I'm not sure who the substitute will be on Monday, but Mr. Plies will be taking over the class for the remainder of the time I'll be out.  Our curriculum stays the same; please continue to be engaged, critical thinkers!

Behaviorist Economics from Mind Over Money.  Comparing rational and behavioral economic approaches.

Homo-economicus seminar packet here

Constitution packet due at start of class period Wednesday 9/16, lost it?  Here is a link to the document.

Welcome to political economy!  Hopefully you've found the class thought provoking and engaging to this point.  Remember you have homework:  the U.S. Constitution Packet, through Article I for Monday - though you may certainly work ahead.

senior final

"The Case for Reparations" link here.  At minimum, read sections II, III, V, VIII and IX.  Reading the full text will help you prepare for the seminar discussion.

You may choose to do additional research, such as Rep. John Conyers reparations bill, other versions of reparations like that of Charles Ogletree from Harvard.

You should also review what course material we have covered that would support / refute your position; there is a lot of material you can touch on here.

HERE is the MLA checklist with active links

What you should have in your hands as of Monday, May 8:  draft #1, stapled to your self-revision checklist, and a printed copy of draft #2 for use in the peer-revision

For Monday draft #2 due; with all corrections completed from the self-revision checklist and draft #1.

Digital notes are due Monday (please see the link to the Lincoln Library here). Click on Inquiry to get a digital notes template you can copy and use in Google drive.  For Monday, I am requiring FIVE digital notes sources IN PLACE OF your regular current events journal entries.  Drag down the Inquiry tab to see the link to our class topic.

SO, due Monday:  current events journal check in (may be shared on paper or digitally) you should have 3 week's of entries at this point AND your 5 digital notes.

Reminder, current events journal entry #2 due Monday, April 13.  Extra credit opportunity, Merchants of Doubt, now playing in select Portland theaters:  view and complete a one-page response.

Homework included FIVE passage /response entries from the introduction to This Changes Everything:  Capitalism and the Climate.  In addition, add THREE big questions that come out of the reading for you; TWO shocking facts; and the ONE most compelling argument she makes in the selection.

Don't forget, our first current even journal is due MONDAY - two entries for the week of 3/30-4/3

EXTERNALITIES - cost or benefit that affects a party who did not choose to incur that cost or benefit; the consequence that is experienced by unrelated third parties.

OPPORTUNITY COSTS  - a benefit, profit or value of something that must be given up to achieve something else; the value of the next best alternative which is mutually exclusive from the first choice.  This is closely tied with the concept of scarcity - that there are limited amounts of resources (raw materials, time, happiness) and that we must choose; but at a cost.


1.  how does this simulation work/not work as a market model?
2.  in real life, what are the externalities of this "game"?
3.  opportunity costs?

for the reading:  complete a passage response journal of at least FIVE entries (passage/your response)

Media Sources Along the Spectrum

More Right Wing

http://www.nationalreview.com/ The National Review

http://www.washingtontimes.com/ The Washington Times

http://www.foxnews.com/ Fox News

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ The Washington Post

More Centrist

http://www.nytimes.com/ The New York Times (requires log in, or enter via LHS)

http://www.reuters.com/ Reuters, news feed

http://www.ap.org/  Associated Press, news feed

http://www.theguardian.com/us The Guardian, Great Britain

http://america.aljazeera.com/ Al Jazeera America

http://www.afp.com/ Agence France Press

More Left Wing

http://www.democracynow.org/ Democracy Now

http://www.alternet.org/ AlterNet

http://www.commondreams.org/ Common Dreams

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/  The Intercept

Regional or issue focused

http://af.reuters.com/  Reuters Africa

http://www.merip.org/  Middle East Research and Information Project

http://www.enn.com/ environmental news network

http://www.ips.org/institutional/ “voice to the voiceless”

http://newamericamedia.org/ news, search by ethnicity

http://womensenews.org/ women

http://www.edgeofsports.com/ progressive sports

TPP materials HERE

For Monday:  What is the most important lesson we can learn from NAFTA?  If you want access to the articles we had around the room, see them here.  This writing should be about a page in length.

Have the following questions answered for Friday:

NAFTA DEBRIEF QUESTIONS:

1. List what you think would be likely to increase or grow as a result of NAFTA +/-?
2. How do you think NAFTA has affected you personally?
3. On the day NAFTA took effect, January 1, 1994, the Zapatistas, an armed group made up of largely poor and indigenous farmers in the Mexican state of Chiapas, launched a rebellion against the Mexican government.  Why might they have chosen that date to begin their uprising?

For Wednesday, February 25, have the indictment packet read and your defense statement complete and ready to go WHAT IS YOUR ROLE IN MAKING THIS HAPPEN? Think about whether you want to print copies for all members of your group or access the document electronically on that day?

Here is the link to a source list for our trial economic meltdown trial