Musical economics
August 5, 2009Jon Brooks 1 Comment »Seen this one yet? Over at the free market-oriented Division of Labour blog, a section called From ABBA to Zeppelin “offers a variety of song lyrics that instructors of economics may find useful in teaching economics. Each post includes a selection from the song’s lyrics and a brief assignment for students.”
From the site:
| “Career Opportunities,” by The Clash
They offered me the office, offered me the shop Career opportunities are the ones that never knock Assignment:
In the song, Clash lead singer Joe Strummer sings about job opportunities available and how he doesn’t want any of them. Does this mean he is unemployed? If so, what type of unemployment is it? What is the opportunity cost of him not taking the job? Can it be beneficial for the economy if citizens don’t take jobs offered to them? In the song, Strummer mentions many of his “career opportunities”, many which are jobs with the government; do you think it is beneficial for the government to offer low-paying jobs to jumpstart the economy? Weigh both the pros and cons for of Strummer’s decision to not join the labor force.
[Provided by Bebe Santa-Wood - Beloit College] |
Other musical economics lessons from the site:
- Cigarettes and Alcohol by Oasis (How does the government calculate the unemployment rate?)
- Rockin’ in the Free World by Neil Young (What factors besides GDP affect our well-being?)
- Money for Nothin’ by Dire Straits (Can you get anything for nothing? Make sure you discuss the opportunity costs.)
Cool syllabus. But bring your own iPod to class.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
[...] Musical economics – From Abba to Zeppelin offers song lyrics that instructors of economics may find useful in teaching economics. [...]