New Freakonomics Movie

Several of my students reminded me today about the new Freakonomics movie coming out soon. We watched the trailer for it at the end of class today and I am really looking forward to it.

Interestingly enough, the movie is being released on iTunes about one month before it appears in theaters, bucking the normal routine of first release in theaters. Some people are speculating that the authors and producers are trying to test the thesis that no one will go see a movie in the theater if it is released through another outlet first. What do you think?

Welcome to a new school year!

Over the summer I read three books by Daniel Pink about the importance of the right brain, career advice, and motivation theory. I'll be trying to incorporate what I've learned into the Grade 10 Business course as a part of the curriculum. But I've been giving some thought as to how I can use the ideas to improve how I teach.

One aspect of motivation theory I find especially compelling is the idea that autonomy is very important for motivation. Last year, this blog was forced upon my Grade 11s as a part of their grade. This lack of autonomy, for the students who had to write comments and for me who felt compelled to write regularly, greatly reduced the possible enjoyment and intrinsic motivation to participate in the blog.

This year, we'll do things differently. I'll still be blogging, but I'm removing the blog from the grading structure of the class. It's voluntary. I'd like to hear from you and hope that you will be motivated enough by your own interest in the course to visit every so often and post a comment when you feel like it.

Let's see what happens!

How Useful is GDP for measuring living standards?

Just in time for our class! The Economist is currently running an online debate about the usefulness of GDP statistics. Read through the two sides of the debate (you don't have to read all the comments) and prepare a few ideas for a comment to post on The Economist Web site. We will put together a few group comments to post on Monday, so as not to overwhelm the site with our positions.

Your group comments should also be posted here on this blog so I can find them easily for marking purposes.

Click HERE to get to the debate online - have fun!

Why is Denmark so happy?

Year after year, in studies of Subjective Well-Being, Denmark is declared the happiest country. The video embedded below discusses why Denmark comes out on top.

Does the information presented in this video reflect our class discussion on the link between income and happiness?

What can governments do to help us be happier?

Do you think that the main economic goal of governments should be to grow their economies or make us happy? Can they do both at once? To what degree might the two goals be incompatible?

The Future of Food?

This past summer the movie Food, Inc. was released in the United States. The movie presents the case against the highly industrialized food system of the United States. The film claims that in the drive to lower production costs for food, particularly meat, producers are creating externalities that make the system unsustainable in the future.

One solution, according to the film, is for consumers to demand more food from regional producers who rely on sustainable methods of production. While these producers create fewer externalities, they also have lower yields. While this may not be a problem for most Americans, who should likely be eating less food (especially meat)anyway, this is an issue for the rest of the world.

The global population will top nine billion people by the year 2050. Many experts think that food production will have to increase by 70% by then to prevent mass starvation. This will likely require a mix of solutions, and industrial agriculture cannot be ruled out of the equation.

After watching Food, Inc. you had an opportunity to explore one of the options below (each option has clickable links in it):

• Explore the Food, Inc. film Web site to find out more about the film, its purpose, and what consumers can do to change the industrial food system



• Read a news article on the future of food from Reuters or from National Geographic or from the latest issue of The Economist



• Explore the Slow Food International Web site or the Slow Food Germany Web site to find out about the Slow Food movement and local sources for sustainable agricultural products



• Explore criticisms of Food Inc. on Monsanto's Web site where it defends itself, or where it lists other groups with their own criticisms of the movie



• Watch Michael Pollan, one of the creators of Food, Inc. deliver a presentation called "What's in the Beef?" where he discusses the link between America's food system and three of the most critical issues of the day: the health care crisis, the energy crisis, and climate change.

What did you learn from your exploration about the present or future of food production? Write a blog comment of no more than 10 sentences sharing what you discovered. Make it meaty (ha!)- share facts, theories, connections you make to economics class, etc. Don't just waffle on vaguely about the looming food crisis. Post by Thursday 26 November midnight for a second chance or by Sunday 29 November as a final deadline.

What do you think of sin taxes?

Governments around the world tax unhealthy or otherwise harmful goods like cigarettes and alcohol, and many are also thinking about taxing junk food. Governments use different justifications for these taxes, but they are also widely criticized.

Below are two links to recent articles about increases in sin taxes. Read through them both and tell us what you think of such policies, using economic analysis as you go. Try to focus in narrowly on one issue, rather than making broad statements that touch on many issues. Remember to keep your comment to 10 sentences or less!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2009-03-31-cigarettetax_N.htm?POE=click-refer

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB125599061198095083-lMyQjAxMDI5NTE1MTkxOTEwWj.html

Do Agricultural Subsidies Foster Poor Health?

This past summer the movie Food, Inc. was released in the United States. The movie analyzes the impact of the industrialization of the food supply, with some very interesting conclusions.

One point made in the film is that government subsidies to the agricultural sector, specifically to corn and soybean producers, may be linked to the growing problem of obesity and diabetes in the United States (and elsewhere presumably).

Below is a link to an article that discusses the possible connection between agricultural subsidies and poor health. There are also counterarguments presented. This material is very much linked to what we have studied so far about supply and demand, the pros and cons of government intervention in markets, and elasticity of demand and supply.

So what do you think? Is there a strong connection between government intervention in agricultural markets and health problems?

I would recommend that you take a few notes as you read, perhaps in two columns (arguments that say intervention is connected with poor health, and arguments that say intervention is not connected with poor health). This will help you put the big picture together at the end. Remember, your comment should be 10 sentences or less. Reply by November 4 for a second chance, or by November 8 as a final deadline.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1247588/