There's an old economist joke that says something to the effect of "if you line up all the economists end to end, you still couldn't reach a conclusion."
Now there's an interesting paper in the most recent issue of Econ Journal Watch. (HT to Greg Mankiw.)
It's a poll of members of the American Economic Association on key policy issues. While the profession holds a wide range of opinions on various policies, it is very interesting to see the topics that command majorities and even, in some cases, strong assent or dissent (more than 2/3 majority).
It might be fun to run a similar poll in your class as a pre-test post-test for the semester, and see how student opinions change as a result of your course. (This could be especially fun for an AP or IB course where you go into topics a bit deeper.)
Just a thought. I'd be interested in your comments.
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Good reference.. I was just reading the survey questions to Phil DePauw to see if he "thinks like an economist". I think I will use some of these questions with my students towards the end of the course. Or, better yet, ask them now for a baseline and see if their answers change.
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