Google, and Uber, and Drones (Oh,

My!):
A Less-is-More Approach to Teaching with
Superexamples
Jim Hornsten
Northwestern University
j-hornsten@northwestern.edu

We hope using anecdotes (e.g., examples from recent

articles) makes our courses more accessible,
interesting, and up-to-date, without making them feel
superficial, disjointed, or ephemeral. In this session
we
consider
developing
a
few
detailed
superexamples that one can employ like a Swiss
army knife to teach multiple topics both within and
across courses perhaps through themed lectures,
homework, or exams. For instance, the market for
1
drones naturally involves [a wide variety of

Google, and Uber, and Drones (Oh,

My!):
A Less-is-More Approach to Teaching with
Superexamples
Why Do We Teach Using
Examples?
Whats the Ideal # of Examples?
The Educational Input Mix
One Idea for Many Topics
Mapping to Mankiws Micro
Principles
Themed Homework or Exams
Superexamples
Google
Uber
Drones

One Idea for Several Courses

Why are we
here?

(At a national economics teaching

conference)

Thinking about an educational production function!

How can I better attain my teaching objectives?
My motivations could be
Improve student results (e.g., understanding, retention,
fun, TUCE scores)
Improve teaching results

Have more fun

Cut prep time/costs
Inject novelty & variety into familiar material
Establish credibility
Build rapport
Challenge self to learn a new technology

"Output"=f["Inputs"]
=f[flip classroom, use clickers, create Facebook page, run experiment, magic tricks,
tinker with grading scheme, assign group project, employ think-pair-share,
teach with Seinfeld or Harry Potter or clowns theme, adopt Socratic method, etc.]3

4 Ways of Communicating Most

ECON Ideas
Intuition
Explain it to your roommate, parent, or stranger at a party

Anecdotes (Examples)
The singular of data is anecdote G. Stigler
Find it in The Economist, NY Times, WSJ, Wired, Cosmo,
Sports Illustrated

Math (Theory)
Plug numbers into a formula; find a first-order condition

Graphs (Theory)
Find peak of a hill-shaped profit function

GOAL: Teach students to fluently translate between

these forms, as if they were translating Thank you
into other languages [Gracias, Merci, Danke,
Grazie, Arigato, Diakuju]
4

Teaching With Examples: Why

Do This?
This is a weak list What am I missing?
PROS

Accessible
Interesting
Up-to-date
Fun to do online searches to prep for class

CONS

Superficial
Disjointed
Ephemeral
Costly to do each term

There are a lot of examples

out there competing for our
5
attention, so how do we

How Many Examples to

Employ?
A Spectrum of Possibilities
N = # of
Examples
N=
N
0
small
Probably Too Few;
Unclear if ECON Applies
to Real World; Maybe
Professor Doesnt Really
Know This Topic

N
N
large
Goldilock
Probably Too Many;
s Level in
Redundant or
a Laffer
Overwhelming; No
Curvian
Time Left to Cover
Way
Theory

Its probably not a bad idea to think about

this occasionally, especially when preparing a

IsoQuants: QWidgets = f[Labor, Capital]

min TC[L, K ] wL rK subject to QTarget f[L, K ]
L,K

Capital,
K
(Robots)

where L=labor, K=capital,

w=wage, r=rental rate, and
Q Target output target
Perfect Complements: Q = min {L, K}
Imperfect Substitutes: Q = LK
Perfect Substitutes: Q = L + K

Labor,
L
(Humans)

A benchmark model from micro theory7

A benchmark model from micro theory

IsoQuants: QEducation = f[Examples,

Theory]
Theory,
T
(Graphs
& Math)

Lets replace (L,K) with (E,T) and

widgets with educational outputs

Perfect Complements: Q = min {E, T}

Imperfect Substitutes: Q = ET
Perfect Substitutes: Q = E + T

Examples,
E
(anecdotes
& articles)

8
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982, Universal/Amblin)

ASIDE: From the Students

Perspective,
IsoUtility: UEducation = f[Examples,
Theory]
Prefer a Heavy Dose of E: U = E T
Theory,
0.8

T
(Graphs
& Math)

0.2

Bliss Point: U = 100 (E 3)2 (T 3)2

Theory is Bad: U = E T

Examples,
E
(anecdotes
& articles)

How do our students feel about our

How do our students feel about our
mix of theory and examples? 9
mix of theory and examples?

SUPEREXAMPLES: A Way to Kill 2 (or

more!) Topical Birds with 1 Course
Prepping Stone
Sometimes we want to show how ECON fits
together in a cohesive way. Its not just a collection
of anecdotes. (Cf. behavioral )
End of Unit Review
Wrap Up Course

Why do we typically teach micro principles around

the model of perfect competition and then
venture off into monopoly, oligopoly, externalities,
public goods, moral hazard, adverse selection,
transactions costs? Nice to set up benchmark, and
then do comparative statics.
The View From 30,000 Feet
10

Table of Contents for Greg Mankiws

Microeconomics
1. Ten Principles
12. Tax Systems
2.

Thinking Like
Economists
3. Gains From Trade
4. Mkt Forces of S&D
5. Elasticity
6. Govt Policies and
S&D
7. Mkt Efficiency
8. Taxation
9. International Trade
10. Externalities
11. Public Goods &
Commons

13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

Production Costs
Competitive Firms
Monopoly
Monopolistic
Competition
Oligopoly
Factor Markets
Discrimination
Income Inequality
Consumer Choice
Micro Frontiers

Challenge: Pick a topic, and try to

Challenge: Pick a topic, and try to
link it wo each of these chapters
link it wo each of these chapters
11

Application: Themed Exams

In Micro Principles Ive used smartphones, beef,
summer, umbrellas, tofu and space
PROS:
Easy to keep track of when students come to office hours
its a lot easier to refer to the chicken soup exam than
Practice Exam #1, the Fall 2014 Midterm Exam, or F14ME
Can be fun if students wonder what the theme will be

CONS:
May seem strained (desperate)
Adds constraints, making it a bit tougher to write exam
Makes the exam a bit longer as you add words to place
into context

12

E.g., Pharmaceutical Patent-Themed

Homework

13

E.g., A Space-Themed Micro

Principles Exam
GOAL: Cover Unit 1 Material with Common Theme
TASK: Find space-y topics to test S&D shifters, etc.
S&D shifters in the mkt for wool blankets, used by
stargazers. [Weak]
Cross price elasticity of demand using P fleece and Qwool
Minimum wage & occupational licensing in futuristic,
competitive labor mkt for Vomit Comet pilots
(weightlessness from flying in parabolic arcs)
Public Good: Near-Earth Object Program to track comets
& asteroids
Externalities: City Lights reduce crime, but obscure
meteor shower viewing
Gravity as an artificially scarce good; P>MC creates DWL
Subsidizing Armageddon-style space heroes
SpaceX CEO Elon Musks income taxes
14

Links to Microeconomic
Topics
1. New Years Eve demand for rides; WTP more?
2. Uber drivers use own cars; costly to supply rides
3. Equilibrium price may be high; surge (peak-load)
pricing
4. Voluntary, mutually beneficial trades
5. PED: Do many ppl switch from traditional cabs to
Uber b/c Plow
6. Taxicab medallions & occupational licensing: govt
policies
7. Welfare analysis: CS = WTP Ppaid, DWL from
scarce cabs
8. ASIDE: An interesting topic; current freshlings
enamored by sharing economy possibilities
15

UBER: Link to Sharing

Economy

16

Links to Microeconomic
Topics
1. Antitrust troubles in Europe
2. Online search
3. Big player in M&A; often averages one acquisition
per week
4. Hardware:
5. OS: Android
6. Patents: Motorola
7. High Tech Gadgets: Google Glass, driverless car
8. Censorship
9. Prioritized search results

17

Wholl
Win?

18

Links to Microeconomic
Topics
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Military spending
Privacy & noise externalities
Cool, new 3-D selfies
Shd FAA keep them away from airports?
Shd another regulator keep them from spying on
me?

The market for drones naturally involves civil

aviation regulation, airspace property rights,
privacy and noise externalities, public goods
(Samuelsons rule, taxes, voting, bureaucracy),
delivering goods to soldiers or Amazon customers
way off the beaten path, and defense contract
bidding, so focusing on drones could be a cost19

DRONES: Link to Automation: Replacing

L with K

When does it make

economic sense to use/send
a machine instead of a
(wo)man?

20

SUPEREXAMPLES: A Way to Kill 2 (or

more!) Course Prepping Birds with 1
Topical Research Stone
Assumptions:
In your educational production function, perhaps theories
and examples are perfect complements
E.g., Q = min {T, E}, so you need one good example to
clarify each theory
You have an endowment of theory inputs (i.e., you dont
need to prep the theory part of your lecture)
Examples get stale/dated/unfamiliar/unproductive, so you
regularly need to buy new examples. Sorry, thats life.
It takes X hours to develop one new example
Each lecture requires one example
You teach three different courses

Goal: Spend less than 3X. Indeed, try to spend only

X.
Idea: Cut prep time by spreading fixed costs across21

Case: 3 Courses on Regulation, 1

Common Topic
ECON 101: Freshling Writing Seminar on Economics
of Regulation
Licensing cosmetologists, seatbelts & Peltzman Effect,
recalling Buckyball magnets, texting while driving PSAs,
online privacy & targeted ads, soda taxes to fight obesity,
raw milk cheese bans, Too Big To Fail banks, soaring student
debt, FDA & e-cigarettes, Facebooks network effects,
adverse selection & ACA, low-flow water fixtures, how to
slow climate change

ECON 250: Business and Government (for nonmajors)

Apply micro principles to study the proper role of
government in the economy

ECON 350: Monopoly, Competition & Public Policy

Should we discourage patent
(Jr/Sr majors)assertion entities (trolls)?

Apply micro theory to study monopolization in the context of

22
public utilities, intellectual property, cartels, predation,

Google, and Uber, and Drones

(Oh, My!)
What are some other current
topics (markets, firms,
products) that would allow
you/me to exploit these
efficiencies in course
preparation?

The Wizard of Oz (1939, MGM)

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