GOT A QUESTION?Students tell me they like real world context for quiz questions. So, students of Env-Econ, here you go: Using the basic tools of supply and demand described here, predict the effect of a recession (decreased income for consumers) combined with increasing supplies on the price of natural gas in Ohio.
Read below the jump for the answer...
Ohio passed a budget today. Not much environmental in it as far as I can tell (they did fail to include oil drilling in Ohio State Parks as a revenue source, so I guess that's good for the environment), but:
Democrats...trumpeted the "transformational" education changes in the budget, which cuts state funding to schools but has an overall increase with federal stimulus funds.
So let's take a quick look at these tranformational education changes:
School districts also will be required to offer all-day kindergarten beginning in the 2010-11 school year, although an optional half-day program would be available to parents.
Let's assume a few numbers. Suppose a currently over-capacity elementary school, has 4 half-day kindergarten classes with 20 students each. The eighty students would require 2 classrooms and 2 teachers. With a move to all-day kindergarten, the same school now needs 4 teachers and 4 classrooms. Either that, or much larger kindergarten classes. But...
...schools must begin reducing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade. Classrooms must be no larger than 19 students in the 2010-11 school year and down to 15 students by 2014-15.
So now the 80 kindergarten students need at least 6 teachers and 6 classrooms (80/15=5.33).
But the need for additional teachers and rooms doesn't stop there, the class size requirements hold for 1st-3rd grades, too. So if each grade previously had 4 classes of 20 students, now each will have 6 classes of no more than 15. That's 6 more teachers and 6 more classrooms for the already over capacity school.
Adding up the numbers, by 2014 this hypothetical over-capacity school must hire 12 more teachers and find 12 more classrooms. It's a good thing there are so many highly qualified elementary school teachers out there looking for jobs (sarc). Because if there were a quality teaching shortage, requirements like this might actually decrease the average quality of teachers in the classroom. And we know a reasonable state government would think of that, right?
And it's a good thing that these new requirements are embedded in a new state budget, because hiring all those teachers and building schools and bringing in portable classrooms and books and computers and...will be expensive...
The budget provides no additional funding for all-day kindergarten or smaller class sizes.
Oh.
My spring quarter Student Evaluation of Instruction scores are in (for my second offering of Principles of Micro at Ohio State). In the first offering I received an overall score of 4.9 out of 5. The second offering slipped a little to 4.5 out of 5. In my defense, the U switched methods for administering the end of quarter survey from paper to web-based. When it was paper, I could administer the survey on days when only the good students showed up--er, I mean, to those who chose to attend class that day. With the web-based survey, even those students who choose not to come to class--you know, the ones who don't like me or are hopelessly failing--can fill out the survey. The shift in samples is supported by 39 out of 64 students filling out the paper survey, but only 18 out 51 filling out the web-based. I don't think I like the web-based survey.
On the upside, the web-based survey does e-mail me the written comments of students who choose to write comments. Here is the complete set of write-in comments from this spring:
"Dr. Haab was a great teacher. He was always willing to help. He organized and explain things clearly. He obviously loves the subject matter he teaches and it shows. I would definitely take him again and recommend him to others."
"great i wish he could teach more of my classes"
"Dr. Haab was very good at communicating the basic concepts of economics to us and liked using every day examples to convey them."
"GREAT CLASS!!"
I'm sitting in class watching 50 undergraduates try to sneakily look at each others final exam answer sheets. Unfortunately for them, they're looking at the answers of others who don't know the answers. The likely end result, homogeneously bad exams. On with the show...
The price of oil burst through the $71 a barrel mark today amid revelations that proven reserves had fallen for the first time in 10 years and predictions that the price could eventually hit $250.
Don't tell me I'm an out-of-touch teacher (Is recession good news ...?):
An inferior good is one whose demand rises as income falls (and vice versa). A normal good is one whose demand falls as income falls (and vice versa; e.g., Starbucks).
Having young kids in a (relatively) high quality public school system and being a professor at a large public university with a large department of education, I've observed three things:
1) There are good primary education teachers and there are bad teachers, but on average, our kids aren't exposed to the best and the brightest.
2) I know this because the students choosing to major in education at major universities often aren't among the best and the brightest.
3) Teacher pay is low.
Being a good economist, I understand that #3 goes a long way towards causing #1 and #2. That's why all I can say about this (from the NY Times) is 'It's about time.'
So what kind of teachers could a school get if it paid them $125,000 a year?
...
[A new charter school in New York City], called the Equity Project, is premised on the theory that excellent teachers — and not revolutionary technology, talented principals or small class size — are the critical ingredient for success. Experts hope it could offer a window into some of the most pressing and elusive questions in education: Is a collection of superb teachers enough to make a great school? Are six-figure salaries the way to get them? And just what makes a teacher great?
...
To make ends meet, teachers will hold responsibilities usually shouldered by other staff members, like assistant principals (there will be none). There will be no deans, substitute teachers (except for extended leaves) or teacher coaches. Teachers will work longer hours and more days, and have 30 pupils, about 6 more than the typical New York City fifth-grade class.
The principal, Mr. Vanderhoek, will earn just $90,000. Teachers will not have the same retirement benefits as members of the city’s teachers’ union. And they can be fired at will.
I love the irony in the name, Equity Project, for a school that's using basic market efficiency principles in teacher hiring.
An anonymous comment submitted by a student for my end of course evaluation--an introductory undergraduate econ course (all sic):
I would recommend making the class attendance mandatory in order to student to learn miore, because if the class not required attending it is easier not to come and the result some of the student don't do well on exams, as a teacher it is important overall students to pass the class and do better on the midterms.
Dear anonymous student:
Really? It is my responsibility as a teacher to make sure you get a good grade? I disagree completely. My responsibility as a teacher is to educate. Please tell me what you learn from being forced to attend a class you otherwise would choose not to attend--as revealed by your appalling attendance record in my class--and being spoon fed material in a way that you can regurgitate for a good grade and forget the moment you leave the class. If I am being honest, your grade is irrelevant to me. Sure, I would like you to succeed, and I take greatpride in seeing students learn. But learning is not defined by your grade. I want you to learn the material so that five years from now you can reach back into those forgotten recesses of your college experience and say 'Holy shit, I remember that from AEDE 200.' If you do that, you have learned and I have succeeded.
As I told you on day 1, day 2 and day 3--and then again after your dismal performance on the midterm--there is a direct correlation in my class between your attendance and your grades. That correlation has nothing to do with favoritism for students who attend class. My exams are multiple choice and I have no way of affecting your grade beyond providing you with materials in class to help you succeed. If you attend class, you are hopefully rewarded with better understanding of the material and as a result better performance on my exams (and a better grade).
If you choose not to attend class, you do so at the risk of your grade. I am not your father or the government. I have no responsibility to act as a surrogate parent and spank you when you don't do what I want. I will pay you in the accepted currency for attending class--knowledge. Expressing that knowledge will translate into better grades. It is not my responsibility to give you additional incentive to get your lazy hungover butt out of bed.
Have we really reached a point in education, or for that matter society, where benevolent paternalism is preferred to personal responsibility?
If so, I'm worried.
What do I have on the menu for today? A 2.5 hour introduction to economics class on the U.S. tax system (Chapter 12 in Mankiw), then a PhD dissertation defense (I'm the advisor--student will join the faculty at Mississippi State University in August) then a Master's thesis defense (I'm a committee member even though I haven't read the thing yet), then head coach of a 12 and under softball double-header (first games of the season--unsolicited updates forthcoming).
In case you're curious as to the type of work Master's and PhD students in Environmental Economics are doing, abstracts are included below the jump.
Last Novemeber, I wrote:
Take the case of high gas prices. From Reuters:
Millions of Americans will drive their cars to visit family and friends over the Thanksgiving holiday even though gasoline is above $3.00 per gallon, travel and leisure group AAA said Thursday.
About 38.7 million Americans, 1.5 percent more than last year, will travel 50 miles or more from home this holiday, AAA estimated, based on a national Web survey of 2,200 adults.
The price per mile of travel is increasing (gas prices are increasing) and miles traveled are increasing relative to last year. The only thing consistent with higher prices and higher quantity is an increase in demand. If high gas prices were supply driven we would see consumption decreasing, not increasing.
Well, ditto:
With the Memorial Day weekend and summer driving season approaching, motorists are facing a familiar trend -- surging gasoline prices.
The undercurrent seems to be that drivers are the victim. Gas prices rise each May in anticipation of the increased demand for gas in late May and into the summer. In this case, drivers aren't the victim, they're the cause of higher gas prices.
Want lower gas prices? DRIVE LESS!
Flipping through the channels and came across a new episode of the Deadliest Catch. The description reads:
I watch so I can say I have evidence that changes in future prices shift supply today.
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