This week’s list is pretty short; my reading has only slowed down a bit, mostly reflecting the fact that I’ve been dealing with some personal issues and therefore thinking less about the books I’m reading.
By Timothy Taylor A conversational economistJuly 29, 2024.
Now, here is an excerpt.
When discussing America’s international economic relations, it sometimes feels like China is the only country worth mentioning. Daniel Hamilton of the Brookings Institution compiled a short essay listing America’s international economic relationships: “Who is America’s largest commercial partner? (Hint: it’s not China)”(March 21, 2024) Here is a table from his article:
If you don’t recognize this photo, before you click the link or read below, try to guess which country is America’s largest trading partner.
Timothy further noted that, measured by the number of trade items, the top four countries in 2022 are the EU ($904.1 billion), Canada ($793.1 billion), Mexico ($779.1 billion) and China ($690.3 billion). The figures are calculated by adding the value of exports to the value of imports.
By Steven E. Landsberg The Wall Street JournalAugust 2, 2024.
excerpt:
Price theory seems to be disappearing from economics curricula. A survey of courses at a few dozen top economics undergraduate schools shows that there are significantly more courses on theoretical microeconomics and significantly fewer courses on price theory than there were five years ago. I have spoken to many economists who have noticed the same thing.
I don’t know why this is happening — maybe it’s because students want courses they can pass by just memorizing textbooks instead of learning how to think — but if economics majors aren’t going to learn how to think about economics, who will?
This dovetails well with recent discussions on this site about teaching economics. here and here.
