Learning Basic Macroeconomics

Abstract

Economics has been dubbed the “dismal science” since Thomas Carlyle coined the phrase in 1849. The 2008 presidential candidate who said, “Economics is something that I’ve really never understood,” probably sides with this view. So, why is economics so dismal to so many? Is it because it has become too mathematical? Is it because traditional textbooks fail to connect topics and models in a concise, cohesive, and meaningful way? Is it because the computer simulations that are used to teach economic principles “stifle students’ imagination, contribute to a dependent learning style, and fail to stimulate interest in the subject matter” (Wetzstein 1988)? Or, is it because economists from different schools of economic thought rarely agree ...