Workbook for the New I.B. Economics

…and our thoughts return, perhaps reluctantly, to the school year ahead, I would like to ask that if you have not yet ordered books for September that you do so soon as I would like to send out final orders in the next week or ten days.

I would also like to direct your attention to a couple of articles which were published over the last couple of months. Below please find the links to them on the Mises Canada website:

https://mises.ca/posts/articles/how-to-eliminate-teachers-strikes/

https://mises.ca/posts/articles/keep-your-old-dimes-safe/

All the best for a great start to the new year.

As we wind down the clock towards the May exams, I would like to wish you and your students all the best. I  have to say, though, that I miss the old exam structure, especially the data response paper that covered the entire syllabus. Ah well…

You may notice that I have finally changed my banner background to reflect my current location. I moved to Abu Dhabi last August and am happy to be back in the Gulf after three years in Canada.

However, while I have moved to the U.A.E. I am still writing articles for my local paper in Canada, the Pembroke Daily Observer. My most recent article, entitled “Usury, once in control, will wreck any nation” which looks at the COMER lawsuit against the Bank of Canada and the recent troubles in Ukraine, can be viewed here:  http://www.thedailyobserver.ca/2015/04/27/usury-once-in-control-will-wreck-any-nation

If you are like me, you are in the thick of revision with your IB2 students preparing them for their exams in May. If you are using the book, I encourage you to direct your students to download the solutions to the Paper 3-style questions using the link at the top of the page of selected solutions near the end of the book.

If you are planning on ordering books for next year, feel free to send me an email listing the number of books you require, the address to which you would like them sent and your preference as to method of payment. As I would like to send my overseas orders in July, I would appreciate receiving orders before that time. Again, if you prefer, you may also order the book through a number of distributors, most notably Richard Heath’s I.B. Bookshop in the U.K. and Amazon.com in the U.S.

Lastly, I would like to share my latest article, entitled “Time For Some Mattress Padding” which was written for publication in the Pembroke Daily Observer and then picked up by the Mises Canada website and from there, much to my delight, by Zerohedge.

All the best as you move your students towards success in their exams.

As we move into 2015, I would like to share my latest article, published the week before Christmas, entitled Hold the Frankincense and Myrrh.

Hold the Frankincense and Myrrh

As well, I would like to draw your attention to some additional material that I have shared on the website. The I.B.-style questions (and some sample answers) can be found at the top of the “Answering I.B.-style Questions” page while non I.B.-style quizzes and exercises can be found at the top of the “Additional Exercises” page.

Lastly, I would  like to thank everyone who ordered books this past year. In 2014 almost 1100 copies of the book were distributed worldwide. Your support is appreciated.

As we roll into December, I would like to wish everyone a pleasant end of term. For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, I hope the recent exams came off well for you and your students. If you are planning on ordering books for January, please be sure to get your order to me by the middle of December to ensure their timely delivery.

Before I go, I would like to share this re-imagined graphic of a Phillips Machine (the original schematic can be found on the front cover of the first edition and inside the front cover of the second edition) by the artist WilliamBanzai7. Again, happy holidays and all the best for 2015.

I just finished reading the following article describing the tenure of William McChesney Martin, Jr. (who famously said that the job of central bankers was to take the punch bowl away just as the party got going) as Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board from 1951 until 1970. It is an interesting read and points to how our current economic mess is directly related to the tendency of central banks to, over time, be captured by political and financial interests.

The power to control a nation’s money needs to be exercised by highly competent and incorruptible public officials. Sadly, that probably hasn’t been the case for at least 27 years (since Paul Volcker resigned).

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-21/fed-then-and-now-%E2%80%93-remembering-william-mcchesney-martin-jr

First of all, I would like to thank the dozen or so schools which have ordered books through Amazon.com recently for their adoption of the book. If you have ordered class sets of the student exercise books, please drop me a line and I will be happy to supply you with a copy of the teachers’ guide.

If you are planning on ordering books through me directly, I would ask that you do so sooner rather than later as I will be moving to the Middle East later this month. However, I am happy to fill orders received in late August or into the fall as I have made arrangements for books to be sent from Canada and from the U.K. on my behalf. The ordering procedure set out in the page above entitled ‘The Second Edition’ remains unchanged.

Lastly, I would like to direct your attention to some recent articles, accessible through the ‘Articles’ page above. ‘Can a Leopard Change its Spots’ examines the impact of competition on bureaucracies, while ‘Easy Money Blood Thinners’  compares the current zero percent interest rate/quantitative easing regime to treating a patient with atherosclerosis with blood thinners instead of undertaking surgery to clear blocked arteries.

Best wishes for the remainder of your summer holidays.

…thank you for visiting the website. This week I got a message from a school in Hong Kong that is using the second edition of the book which clearly expresses why it is the most effective I.B. economics learning resource available:

“I think the tribute to the workbook is the way the kids have engaged with it – every copy heavily annotated and questions answered.”

It is a book that gives students a wealth of opportunities to learn the definitions, diagrams, concepts and calculations of the course through daily practice. No other book gives students as many chances to grapple with and hone their understanding of the subject.

Ideally, the book should be used in a “flipped classroom” environment where students read the lessons and do the definitions the evening before and then work on the numerical and graphical exercises in class where they can easily call upon their teacher or classmates for assistance. Ashbury College in Ottawa, Canada uses the book in this way and the results have been very positive.

If you would like to learn more about the book, please look at the page above entitled “The Second Edition.” If you would like to download the electronic lessons for the book along with a sample exercise, the page from the teachers’ guide supporting the exercise, and a sample Paper 3-style question, please go to https://gumroad.com/l/qDOE. The download is free.

Again, thank you for coming. I hope you will have a look around the website and that you will be in touch soon with any further questions you might have.

First of all, I would like to congratulate all of this year’s graduating I.B. students (and their teachers) on having completed their exams. I wish you all the best as you move onto your next adventures.

As well, I would like to share my latest article entitled “The Death of the Dollar.” The one sentence summary is that the U.S. can either remain the issuer of the world’s reserve currency or it can stoke inflation so as to bail out its banks, but it can’t do both.

The Death of the Dollar

Finally, I will be taking up teaching duties next year in Abu Dhabi so I would ask schools looking to order books for the 2014-2015 school year to please get their orders to me by the first week of August. While orders will be shipped after that date, if possible I would appreciate receiving them before that date so as to be able to fulfill them myself.

Thank you and all the best as the school year winds to a close.

I had an opportunity to go through the lessons for the second edition in late January and make some small improvements. The updated PDF file is now available on the page above entitled “The Second Edition” as well as through Gumroad.com and the IB Online Curriculum Centre’s Teacher Resource Exchange.

I am also pleased to report that some of my articles from the Pembroke Daily Observer are now posted on the Ludwig von Mises Institute’s website. I invite you to check out the site as there are many interesting articles and readings there with an Austrian school flavour.

I wish you all the best as you move with your students into the final innings.