By Caleb S. Fuller in Econ 101 — 29 Mar 2025

Econ 101 Perishes for Want of Wonder

Here's my attempt to recapture the wonder of social cooperation by in my Econ 101 class by asking a question each day about the social order:

DATE	TOPIC	READING
Jan 13	Welcome to Econ 101: What do you need to succeed in this course?	N/A
Jan 15	The Economic Point of View I: Do seatbelt laws kill?	Boettke: “The Four Pillars of Economic Understanding” Fuller: “Why Studying Economics Requires Curiosity” Rosling: “The Magic Washing Machine”(video)
Jan 17	The Economic Point of View II: Can economists agree?	McCloskey: “Introduction” to The Applied Theory of Price (pp. 1-4) NFL: Introduction
Jan 20	Foundations of Economics: Why should you thank your high school geometry teacher?	FoE: 1-8
Jan 22	Economic Method: What’s the difference between a rock and a person?	FoE: 8-18
Jan 24	Human Action: Do you want my autograph?	FoE: 19-24; 33-36 Boettke: “Proposition 3: The Facts of the Social Sciences are What People Think and Believe”
Jan 27	Opportunity Cost: Do hurricanes make the world a better place?	FoE: 24-29 NFL: Chapter 1 Hazlitt: “The Lesson” and “The Broken Window” in Economics in One Lesson (pp. 3-5 and pp. 11-12)
Jan 29	Economic Goods: How can a bottle of wine be $43,198.30?	FoE: 29-33 L. Read: “I, Pencil” (pp. 3-9) “I, Pencil: The Movie” (watch)
Jan 31	Marginal Utility: Why do quarterbacks earn more than economics professors?	FoE: 38-50 Boudreaux: “The Power of Economics” Bastiat: “Abundance and Scarcity” (pp. 7-15) from Economic Sophisms “If We Treated Teachers Like Pro Athletes” (watch)
Feb 3	Direct Exchange I: Is the middleman a parasite?	FoE: 51-59 Bastiat: “Middlemen” from “That Which is Seen and Unseen” (Note: Scroll down to the section titled “Middlemen”)
Feb 5	Direct Exchange II: Are low wages exploitative?	FoE: 59-63 NFL: Chapter 4
Feb 7	Absolute Advantage: What happened to Tasmania?	FoE: 63-68 “How to Make a $1,500 Sandwich in Only 6 Months” (watch) “The Russian Family who had Never Seen Another Person” (watch) Rosling: “200 Countries, 200 Years” (watch)
Feb 10	Comparative Advantage: Which state is the best for growing cars?	FoE: 69-73 Landsburg: “The Iowa Car Crop” (pp. 1-2) Bastiat: “A Petition” from Economic Sophisms (pp. 56-60) Bastiat: “A Negative Railroad” from Economic Sophisms (pp. 94-95)
Feb 12	Property and Ownership: What is a “Steeler” and why does it matter?	FoE: 74-84 Alchian: “Property Rights” “Freedom Works” (watch)
Feb 14	MIDTERM I
Feb 17	Indirect Exchange: Where are cigarettes money?	FoE: 86-93 Radford: “The Economic Organization of a POW Camp” (pp. 1-6)
Feb 19	The Law of Demand I: In ten years, what should you remember from this class?	FoE: 94-104
Feb 21	The Law of Demand II: How do tariffs make us fat?	NFL: Chapter 3
Feb 24	The Law of Demand III: Did Prohibition fail?	FoE: 129-134
Feb 26	The Law of Supply: Why aren’t you a garbage collector?	FoE: 104-112 Boettke: “Proposition 4: Utility and Costs are Subjective”
Feb 28	Price Formation I: What is a price?	FoE: 112-128 “Pendulum” (Watch)
Mar 3	SPRING BREAK
Mar 5	SPRING BREAK
Mar 7	SPRING BREAK
Mar 10	Price Formation II: How do prices turn enemies into friends?	Price Formation II: How do prices turn enemies into friends?
Mar 12	Market Changes I: What happens to ER visits when the price of water changes?	FoE: 135-148
Mar 14	Market Changes II: What’s graphite got to do with peanut butter?	FoE: 148-158
Mar 17	Market Changes III: Who benefits from Uber’s “surge pricing”?	FoE: 158-162
Mar 19	Factor Prices I: Will recycling paper save trees?	FoE: 226-239
Mar 21	Factor Prices II: What’s the deadliest job in America?	FoE: 239-250 “The 10 Most Dangerous Jobs in America”
Mar 24	MIDTERM II
Mar 26	Profit and Loss I: What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?	FoE: 178-180; 209-220
Mar 28	Profit and Loss II: Is profit a dirty word?	FoE: 220-225 NFL: Chapter 6
Mar 31	Cartel: Should you fear a campus dating cartel?	FoE: 251-258
Apr 2	Monopoly: Why does the DMV take forever?	FoE: 259-264
Apr 4	Unions and Licensure: Who should we thank for high wages?	FoE: 265-272
Apr 7	Price Ceilings I: Need an apartment? Search the obituaries!	FoE: 409-419 NFL: Chapter 2
Apr 9	Price Ceilings II: How do you conquer a city in three days (or less)?	FoE: 409-419 Munger: “They Clapped”
Apr 11	Price Floors: What happened to elevator operators?	FoE: 419-431 Fuller: “Five Ways Minimum Wage Studies Fail” (optional)
Apr 14	Taxes and Subsidies: Where did all the windows go?	FoE: 437-441
Apr 16	Regulation I: Can we reverse the NFL concussion crisis?	FoE: 458-470 Horwitz: “Of Football Helmets and Bailouts”
Apr 18	EASTER BREAK
Apr 21	EASTER BREAK
Apr 23	Regulation II: Will MySpace ever lose its monopoly?	FoE: 470-472
Apr 25	Regulation III: Who wants to be regulated?	FoE: 473-477
Apr 28	Economics Everywhere: Where can economics take you?	Leeson: “Justice, Medieval Style”
Apr 30	AMA	N/A
May 1	STUDY DAY
May 3	FINAL EXAM—8-10AM

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