MacroJournal – Turning Students into Practitioners

Abstract

Incorporating currents events into an economics curriculum is a goal of many dedicated instructors. The benefits of doing so are obvious. Unfortunately, the costs associated with implementation are non-trivial. In the following, I introduce an experiential writing assignment, called the MacroJournal, which streamlines the process of incorporating current events into a macroeconomics course. The costs for the instructor are mitigated by a repeated structure of questioning and a well-defined grading rubric. By completing the assignment, students have an opportunity to become practitioners, and link current events to classroom theory.

Keywords: economic education, active learning, current events, macroeconomics

JEL Classification: A22, E01, E66