I Don't Always Teach the History of Economic Thought...But When I Do, I Prefer an NCAA-Style Tournament

Abstract

I describe an assignment for a history of economic thought (HET) course, "The Most Interesting Economist in History," modeled off of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Students vote in head-to-head matchups between economic writers by era for whom they find to be more "interesting" and explain their reasoning behind their votes. This assignment promotes active learning and is a more fun way of juggling complex themes and a slew of writers over a semester-long seminar.

Keywords: history of economic thought, assignments, economics education, active learning, tournament

JEL Classification: A10, A22, B00