Category: Principles of Macroeconomics

Thinkwell is a commercial learning tutorial service that supports economics, microeconomics and macroeconomics courses. It consists of video lectures that give simultaneous views of the lecturer and his slides and animations. Online interactive exercises with feedback, review notes, course management tools and a dedicated website for users. Lecturers can customise the course and view the results of interactive tests taken by their students. The materials are available online via subscription and require Flash / QuickTime / Java to load.

Bill Parke, University of North Carolina

Classic economic models is a set of economic models that run through a web browser, some of which are available as free trials. The models are divided into micro and macro models, covering topics such as perfect competition, Keynsian models, price discrimination and utility-based valuation of risk. The models take the form of model link files which can be read by the EconModel plug-in. Access to the non-free models requires an annual subscription, currently 20 USD for a year. Most of the models have exercise sheets in PDF suitable for printing.

LSE Centre for Economic Performance

Interactive visualisation of income inequality and wealth inequality data for the UK. As the reader steps through, the site asks them to choose a desirable level of income inequality between the top 5 and bottom 5 percent, then displays the real level of inequality and how it evolved from the 1960s to 2011.

This is a set of hyperlinked mindmaps, including textual notes, images and hyperlinks, starting with Economic Environment of business. Reading the files requires the free MindManager viewer software, which is available for a variety of platforms. Previews of a couple of mind maps are available as PDFs, with reduced functionality.

A set of configurable, graphically appealing, online interactive games that work across laptops, iOS (Apple) and Android devices. Instructors can customise the games, or use default settings, and students join by entering a class code. The instructor gets a graphical analysis of outcomes immediately at the end of the session, for use in class discussion. The site has course guides that suggest how to sequence the games in different Economics courses, and each game has references to relevant papers. The site’s apps can also be used to administer individual survey or assessment questions online.

A set of interactive games and simulations that are played in the browser. The tutor chooses a game and a number of players, then is given unique logins to distribute to learners. 14 games are played against the computer. In the other 47 games, learners play against each other.

Page explaining the effect of supply-side shocks on the economy and how central banks can respond. The resource combines text, charts, interactive simulations, and self-test questions with immediate feedback. Through the in-browser simulations, readers can see the results of different interest rate changes. It ends with prompts for further discussion.

Rajiv Sethi, Homa Zarghamee, and others, Barnard College, New York

Online textbook which uses interactive visualisations and quizzes. It is intended not as a replacement for existing textbooks, but as a set of complementary resources that give a different way to explore the topic. The modules are on “Measuring Inequality”, “Specialization and Trade”, “Technology and Costs”, “Intertemporal Choice”, “Measuring Output, Inflation, and Growth”, “Aggregate Production and Fiscal Policy”, and “Balance Sheets and Trading”.

Institute for Fiscal Studies and NESTA

Interactive macro simulation of the UK economy in which the user can make dozens of alterations to taxes and public spending and see the effect on the government’s deficit.