From: Scott Wolla (misterwolla@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jul 25 2003 - 13:14:23 EDT
Next message: Virginia Crook: "[Channel-talkeconomics] Economics in the Classroom at MHS"
Video #8
Growth and Entrepreneurship
Video #8 was a very thoughtful one to engage students
in such a way to encourage them to think on a larger
scale. I think the statements made in the video are
true, that students believe that wealth is a right in
America. Students believe that America is by
definition a wealthy nation and that they have an
inherent right to be wealthy by living here. This is
not true; history has shown us that once great
civilizations have fallen largely because of the
complacency of its population. I also like the fact
that education and investment in human capital was
seen as one of the keys to building wealth. Students
often see education as a rite of passage or something
they have to do. It would be more beneficial if they
began to view education as an investment in their
future.
I was impressed by the business plan activity.
Students are often very creative and willing to work
very hard for their money. They also have needs and
wants like the rest of us. For that reason it seems
only natural that they would put their skills to work.
The last activity was very good. When the Napster case
was in the courts and on the news on a regular basis,
I spent a lot of time talking with students about the
case. I found that almost every student in the class
had either downloaded music from Napster or had a CD
of songs that someone had downloaded for them. I was
more than a little shocked. They felt it was fine to
download free music (they did have an incentive that
may have shaded their opinion a bit). They said that
Napster exposed them to new forms of music and they
had bought the entire CD of some of the bands they had
heard from Napster. My suspicion is that they have
bought far fewer CDs than they normally would have if
Napster were not available. The activity did a good
job of revealing the rights of artists. This activity
would work very well I believe because it involves
artists that they listen to on a regular basis. I also
enjoyed the teacher’s comparison of innovation in the
U.S. compared to countries such as Egypt and Syria
where intellectual property rights are not protected
to the same extent. The “brain drain” is a real thing
and helps explain the continuing prosperity of the
United States.
Overall, I really enjoyed all the videos and received
some great ideas for teaching economics in my
classroom. I am very happy that this is available!
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