I give an extra point to any student who finds an alternative "measure" and
brings it to class (not just to my office). Someone always has.
In the past I've done follow-up assignments including plotting the GDPs,
calculating government budgets, etc. World Bank data was useful for that.
Terry Comingore
Suzanne Wallace wrote:
> I think this sounds like an excellent exercise; however, this index of
> economic freedom is ideological construction reflecting the values, etc. of
> an extremely conservative view of the economy. Do you appraise students of
> the underlying attitudes -- or offer another approach or reading to provide
> balance -- or just point out that subjectivity creeps into most economic
> analysis or what? This is an issue I struggle with in several of my
> courses -- i.e., the normative junk that underlies most positive analysis --
> and I would appreciate knowing how others deal with it.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-tch-econ@elon.edu [mailto:owner-tch-econ@elon.edu]On Behalf
> Of Terry Comingore
> Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2000 10:48 AM
> To: tch-econ@elon.edu
> Subject: Re: how open is an open economy?
>
> I gave this assignment to my students this semester:
>
> Now in its sixth edition, the Index of Economic Freedom, co-published by
> The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street
> Journal, measures the level of freedom and prospects for growth in our
> global economy. The Index is a practical reference guide
> to the economic systems and results of 161 countries, with detailed
> information about foreign investment codes, fiscal burden of
> government, tariffs, banking regulations, monetary policy, black
> markets, and more. Read the Executive summary at
> www.heritage.org/index/execsum.html then send me an e-mail summarizing
> their findings on the following:
>
> What is the relationship of economic freedom and rates of long-term
> economic growth and prosperity
> What is the economic freedom status of most of the 161 economies?
> What region is the most economically free? What is the trend? Why?
>
> Terry Comingore
>
> T Nguyen wrote:
> >
> > How do you answer that question to a student?
> >
> > Furthermore, are there recent references on conceptual/empirical issues of
> > measuring the openness of an open economy. I vaguely remember that there
> > was an old article in the International Economics Review (???) but
> > couldn't really locate the exact references. How about the more recent
> > literature?
> >
> > Any pointer would be gratefully appreciated.
> >
> > Nguyen
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