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How it works in 3 steps
We'll reach out to gather your micro syllabus so we can tailor EconInbox to what you're teaching, when you're teaching it.
We've searched high and low for resources that will engage your students: news articles with clicker questions, podcasts, videos, nerdy blog posts, games and more. Check out our working spreadsheet for details.
You’ll receive a weekly email with vetted content matched to the topic you’re teaching that week, for free.
See a sample!
Check out a sample email!
Elasticity: Curated Media
News & Articles
Massive response to sale prompts Build-A-Bear to shut down lines, offer vouchers
(CNN) 7/12/2018
The "overwhelming" response to a sale at Build-A-Bear prompted the retailer to turn away customers waiting in long lines outside its stores. Ask your students if they can infer anything about elasticity of demand.
Resources: Multiple Choice Questions
Most Netflix users would pay a lot more for their subscription, survey shows
(Yahoo! Finance) 5/15/2018
Are your students addicted to Netflix? Then this example might resonate with them. While the headline is a bit misleading, you can use the information given in the article about demand at different price points to calculate (a rough) elasticity of demand for Netflix (FYI — Netflix has around 125M subscribers). You could even create a poll for your class and construct the class’ elasticity of demand for Netflix for a more personal example.
Facts about (Facebook) Friends
(Marginal Revolution) 7/25/2017
An oldie, but a goodie. Does distance make the heart grow fonder? Tyler Cowen provides some stats on social connectedness and links to a working paper on the topic. Transfer of learning, anyone?
Podcasts
An Economist Gets Stoned*
(Planet Money)
What happens to the price of drugs if we legalize them? Well, it depends on elasticity of demand. For more background on the research in this episode, check out Jeffrey Miron’s paper on drug prohibition’s budgetary implications.
*No economists were stoned in the making of this podcast.
Resource: Rebecca Moryll has a class discussion question and a written assignment for this episode at audioecon.com.
Video
Characteristics that Determine Elasticity
(MJM Foodie)
Using the example of gas to fuel her car, Dr. Mary J. McGlasson gives
a quick overview of the contributing factors to whether an individual’s demand for a particular good might be elastic or inelastic. So, is Dr. McGlasson’s demand for gasoline elastic or inelastic?
Elasticity and Slave Redemption
(MRU)
Slave redemption is one of the starkest examples of unintended consequences that we’ve ever heard of. It drives home the point for students that even when you’re trying to do good in the world, understanding economics, including elasticities, is crucial!
Hey Professor Smith,
Welcome back to EconInbox — your weekly round-up of the best free and engaging econ teaching resources out there.
This week: elasticity. Students often have trouble with elasticity, especially applying it outside of economics. In fact, most people are pretty bad at learning transfer – taking a concept from one area and applying it to another. And yet, it’s arguably one of the most important skills. Below, you’ll find a few examples of learning transfer in action, but please send others our way!
Have resources to share?
We'd also love to hear any other comments you have!
Drop us an email at
A weekly email of news articles and resources tailored to what you’re teaching.
BETA
How it works
1. Sign up for EconInbox by
giving us your Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, or Intro to Economics course schedule.
2. We sync tailored resources to your syllabus schedule.
3. You receive one weekly email of resources based on what you’re teaching that week.
What educators are saying about EconInbox
"I'm honored to say EconInbox is my best teaching assistant."
— Dr. Maryam Moeini, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences
"I am just so happy with EconInbox. It's been such a great resource - I've used it to improve my lectures, build better reading response questions, and inspire ideas. I look forward to it every week!"
— Dr. Emily Beam, University of Vermont
"EconInbox has been a fantastic aid to teaching AP Micro this year. This is my 7th year teaching and these resources have allowed me to change up my curriculum and have students make more real world connections than ever before."
— David Golden, Chicago Public Schools
CPI - Measuring Inflation: Curated Media
News
July Inflation Numbers | CNBC
August 10, 2022
Latest inflation numbers. Inflation is still high year to year, but flat from month to month.
Sneaky Shrinkflation Is Driving People Crazy | Financial Advisor
July 27, 2022
The BLS corrects for shrinkflation, or downsizing, when inflation statistics are calculated. However, is quality rather than quantity reduction captured by the CPI?
What’s fueled inflation each month | The Washington Post
July 26, 2022
For anyone who wants a visual overview of which goods and services have been driving changes in CPI, this guide gives a month by month breakdown by category.
From tuition hikes to higher student loan borrowing costs, inflation is making college even more expensive | CNBC
June 15, 2022
What is more relevant to students than college tuition?! Spark your students’ interest with this article about some of the reasons why college has become more expensive.
What's your rate of inflation? | NYTimes
May 8, 2022
Measuring inflation involves comparing how a representative basket of goods changes in price over time, but what if your buying habits aren’t represented accurately by the predetermined basket? Students can use this link to see how different consumers (including themselves!) may experience inflation’s effects differently.
Despite Inflation, Arizona Ice Tea is still 99 cents | LA Times
April 12, 2022
How is Arizona able to keep its prices at 99 cents despite runaway inflation?
Inflation explained: how prices took off | Washington Post
March 16, 2022
The visuals are just beautiful. I’m not totally sold that this is the absolute best way to explain inflation, but I had to include it because it was novel.
How companies are hiding inflation without charging you more | Quartz
March 10, 2022
Doritos and others are shrinking their portions.
Podcasts
Inflation is crushing rural America and may even drive people
to the cities | NPR
July 25, 2022
Rising costs aren’t distributed equally. Neither are higher wages. Some rural households are trying to figure out whether moving closer to cities can lower fuel costs and position them to find higher paying jobs.
The Indicator From Planet Money Probes Inflation's Sneaky Cousin: Shrinkflation | The Indicator from Planet Money
July 22, 2021
Another great resource about this sneaky way to increase prices without increasing prices: shrinking the size of the bag! Is your favorite consumer item shrinking in size?
How do you measure inflation? | NPR Planet Money
July 13, 2021
If you’ve ever wondered how the BLS measures inflation, this podcast explains the precision and process of measuring inflation.
What is CPI and what exactly does it measure? | Marketplace
August 10, 2020
A nice explainer podcast on the definition and limitation of the CPI.
Video
Shrinkflation: Consumers getting less for their money | CBS News
July 13, 2022
If the price of a box of your favorite ice-cream has increased, you have probably noticed. But do you always remember to check the weight of the good? This video pairs well with the articles about shrinkflation above.
What The Tooth Fairy Tells Us About The Rising Cost Of Parenting | Planet Money
April 2, 2019
There’s no denying it - the price of a going baby tooth is increasing way faster than the inflation rate. Why is it such a good time to be a toothy kid? It all boils down to income elasticity of demand.
Resource: Discussion activity
What is the Consumer Price Index? | NBC News
Peak your students’ interest with this quick introduction to CPI and chained CPI.
Measuring Inflation | Marginal Revolution University (EdPuzzle)
What is inflation and how is it measured? This video explains it all. As an added bonus - students will get a tutorial on using FRED to obtain macroeconomic data.
Resource: Practice questions
Additional Resources
Gas Prices and Inflation | Marginal Revolution University
Have your students use actual data to learn how the CPI is calculated and the role of gas prices.
Cost of living game | Storyline
Can you guess what price trends in the US look like? Find out with this trend guessing game.
The Billion Prices Project | MIT and Harvard
Rather than relying just on CPI, this was a cool project that scraped data on billions of prices from all over the world to explore macroeconomics questions.
Getting Graphic
FRED is the go-to place for all macroeconomic indicators. Take a look at the CPI, percent change from a year ago (seasonally adjusted).
Price changes in consumer goods and services in the USA | Our World in Data
The graph shows how prices of services were rising faster than prices of goods before the pandemic.
Hey Professor Nash,
Welcome back to EconInbox and another week of curated resources for teaching economics! This week: CPI - Measuring Inflation.
Copyright © 2023 Marginal Revolution University. All rights reserved.
Have resources to share?
We'd also love to hear any other comments you have!
Drop us an email at
A weekly email of news
articles and resources
tailored to what
you’re teaching.
Copyright © 2023 Marginal Revolution University. All rights reserved.
Have resources to share? We'd also love to hear any other comments you have!
Drop us an email at
What educators
are saying about EconInbox
"I'm honored to say EconInbox is my best teaching assistant."
— Dr. Maryam Moeini, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences
"I am just so happy with EconInbox. It's been such a great resource - I've used it to improve my lectures, build better reading response questions, and inspire ideas.
I look forward to it every week!"
— Dr. Emily Beam, University of Vermont
"EconInbox has been a fantastic aid to teaching AP Micro this year. This is my 7th year teaching and these resources have allowed me to change up my curriculum and have students make more real world connections than ever before."
— David Golden, Chicago Public Schools
How it works
1. Sign up for EconInbox by giving us your Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, or Intro to Economics course schedule.
2. We sync tailored resources to your syllabus schedule.
3. You receive one weekly email of resources based on what you’re teaching that week.
Check out a
sample email!
CPI - Measuring Inflation: Curated Media
News
July Inflation Numbers | CNBC
August 10, 2022
Latest inflation numbers. Inflation is still high year to year, but flat from month to month.
Sneaky Shrinkflation Is Driving People Crazy | Financial Advisor
July 27, 2022
The BLS corrects for shrinkflation, or downsizing, when inflation statistics are calculated. However, is quality rather than quantity reduction captured by the CPI?
What’s fueled inflation each month | The Washington Post
July 26, 2022
For anyone who wants a visual overview of which goods and services have been driving changes in CPI, this guide gives a month by month breakdown by category.
From tuition hikes to higher student loan borrowing costs, inflation is making college even more expensive | CNBC
June 15, 2022
What is more relevant to students than college tuition?! Spark your students’ interest with this article about some of the reasons why college has become more expensive.
What's your rate of inflation? | NYTimes
May 8, 2022
Measuring inflation involves comparing how a representative basket of goods changes in price over time, but what if your buying habits aren’t represented accurately by the predetermined basket? Students can use this link to see how different consumers (including themselves!) may experience inflation’s effects differently.
Despite Inflation, Arizona Ice Tea is still 99 cents | LA Times
April 12, 2022
How is Arizona able to keep its prices at 99 cents despite runaway inflation?
Inflation explained: how prices took off | Washington Post
March 16, 2022
The visuals are just beautiful. I’m not totally sold that this is the absolute best way to explain inflation, but I had to include it because it was novel.
How companies are hiding inflation without charging you more | Quartz
March 10, 2022
Doritos and others are shrinking their portions.
Podcasts
Inflation is crushing rural America and may even drive people
to the cities | NPR
July 25, 2022
Rising costs aren’t distributed equally. Neither are higher wages. Some rural households are trying to figure out whether moving closer to cities can lower fuel costs and position them to find higher paying jobs.
The Indicator From Planet Money Probes Inflation's Sneaky Cousin: Shrinkflation | The Indicator from Planet Money
July 22, 2021
Another great resource about this sneaky way to increase prices without increasing prices: shrinking the size of the bag! Is your favorite consumer item shrinking in size?
How do you measure inflation? | NPR Planet Money
July 13, 2021
If you’ve ever wondered how the BLS measures inflation, this podcast explains the precision and process of measuring inflation.
What is CPI and what exactly does it measure? | Marketplace
August 10, 2020
A nice explainer podcast on the definition and limitation of the CPI.
Video
Shrinkflation: Consumers getting less for their money | CBS News
July 13, 2022
If the price of a box of your favorite ice-cream has increased, you have probably noticed. But do you always remember to check the weight of the good? This video pairs well with the articles about shrinkflation above.
What The Tooth Fairy Tells Us About The Rising Cost Of Parenting | Planet Money
April 2, 2019
There’s no denying it - the price of a going baby tooth is increasing way faster than the inflation rate. Why is it such a good time to be a toothy kid? It all boils down to income elasticity of demand.
Resource: Discussion activity
What is the Consumer Price Index? | NBC News
Peak your students’ interest with this quick introduction to CPI and chained CPI.
Measuring Inflation | Marginal Revolution University (EdPuzzle)
What is inflation and how is it measured? This video explains it all. As an added bonus - students will get a tutorial on using FRED to obtain macroeconomic data.
Resource: Practice questions
Additional Resources
Gas Prices and Inflation | Marginal Revolution University
Have your students use actual data to learn how the CPI is calculated and the role of gas prices.
Cost of living game | Storyline
Can you guess what price trends in the US look like? Find out with this trend guessing game.
The Billion Prices Project | MIT and Harvard
Rather than relying just on CPI, this was a cool project that scraped data on billions of prices from all over the world to explore macroeconomics questions.
Getting Graphic
FRED is the go-to place for all macroeconomic indicators. Take a look at the CPI, percent change from a year ago (seasonally adjusted).
Price changes in consumer goods and services in the USA | Our World in Data
The graph shows how prices of services were rising faster than prices of goods before the pandemic.
Hey Professor Nash,
Welcome back to EconInbox and another week of curated resources for teaching economics! This week: CPI - Measuring Inflation.
by MRU
FAQ
1. Signup for EconInbox by
sharing your Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, or Intro to Economics course schedule.
2. We sync tailored resources to your syllabus schedule.
3. You receive one weekly email of resources based on what you’re teaching that week.
See sample email
FAQ
1. Signup for EconInbox by sharing your Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, or Intro to Economics course schedule.
2. We sync tailored resources to your syllabus schedule.
3. You receive one weekly email of resources based on what you’re teaching that week. See sample email
How it works:
Q: It seems like I can only sign up for one course at a time. What if I teach multiple courses?
A: Great question! We’re working on a better solution for this. In the meantime, sign up for one course and then simply add topics for both/multiple classes to that schedule. If you’ve already signed up for one course for fall and would like to add another course, you can update your schedule here. If you have any questions, just reach out to econinbox@mru.org and we’ll help you out.
Q: I really like the concept but I honestly don’t know my schedule for the whole semester. Can I still sign up?
A: Absolutely! It’s ok if you’re not sure what you’re teaching. After you sign up and fill out the first few weeks, you can always return to EconInbox’s syllabus builder app throughout the semester to edit your schedule.
Q: It sounds like you’ll send me these cool resources the week before I teach it. What if I want them a bit earlier than that?
A: No problem! We can adjust your schedule so you receive it two or three weeks in advance. Just let us know! Reach out to econinbox@mru.org.
Q: It seems like I can only sign up for one course at a time. What if I teach multiple courses?
A: Great question! We’re working on a better solution for this. In the meantime, sign up for one course and then simply add topics for both/multiple classes to that schedule. If you’ve already signed up for one course for fall and would like to add another course, you can update your schedule here. If you have any questions, just reach out to
econinbox@mru.org and we’ll help you out.
Q: I really like the concept but I honestly don’t know my schedule for the whole semester. Can I still sign up?
A: Absolutely! It’s ok if you’re not sure what you’re teaching. After you sign up and fill out the first few weeks, you can always return to EconInbox’s syllabus builder app throughout the semester to edit your schedule.
Q: It sounds like you’ll send me these cool resources the week before I teach it. What if I want them a bit earlier than that?
A: No problem! We can adjust your schedule so you receive it two or three weeks in advance. Just let us know! Reach out to econinbox@mru.org.
