BusinessWeek Logo

Fun--music and economics

Posted by: Michael Mandel on February 27

When I was at the Teaching Economics Conference at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh last week, I saw a fun presentation by G.Dirk Mateer and Andrew Rice of Penn State University. They demonstrated their use of music and very funny animated Flash files to get intro econo students jazzed up at the beginning of class. On their website, Flash Music for Economics, Mateer and Rice write:

This website showcases a series of animated Flash files that were created for use in teaching introductory economics. The Flash files are an eclectic mix of music from the last forty years. Each Flash animation includes synchronized lyrics to the song and an economic interpretation of the lyrics. Some of the animations also include pop-ups and visual tricks to enhance the experience

They’ve got a very funny sample from Weird Al’s “Ebay” accessible on the website. They’ve done a whole bunch of other songs, including “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” (Rolling Stones), “Beverly Hills” (Weezer), and “Rich Girl” (Gwen Stefani).

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.businessweek.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/

Reader Comments

Brandon W

February 27, 2007 03:00 PM

Huh... Weird Al and economics. Who knew? If I'd had this when I was taking economics courses, I probably would have been too amused to spend classes arguing with the professors.

Hey MT... see... economists apparently do have a sense of humour. Someplace. Maybe it just requires enough drinking.

Eric

February 28, 2007 09:35 AM

now that we're on the subject of economists and drinking, why is it that every econ teacher I've had ALWAYS uses beer for their examples?

Mike Mandel

February 28, 2007 02:38 PM

I use iPods for my examples....No beer at all

eric

March 9, 2007 02:32 PM

i wish they would just stick with "widgets" and call it a day

Daniel

March 20, 2007 10:27 PM

Try explaining what a Widget is to a group of 14yr old high school students. I use iPods and Myspace.com as examples all the time.

Eric

March 21, 2007 08:45 AM

good point...

Post a comment

 

About

Michael Mandel, BW's award-winning chief economist, provides his unique perspective on the hot economic issues of the day. From globalization to the future of work to the ups and downs of the financial markets, Mandel-named 2006 economic journalist of the year by the World Leadership Forum-offers cutting edge analysis and commentary.

RSS Feed: Economics Unbound

BW Mall - Sponsored Links