Matt and Jadrian spent the weekend with some amazing economics educators at the Journal of Economics Teaching’s Symposium on Economics Teaching. While we were there, we took some time to chat with other economics educators about what they do in their professional lives and their favorite topics to teach. Our first guest is a Senior Economic Education Specialist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. While most people know of the Federal Reserve as the U.S.’s central bank, you may be wondering what an economic education specialist does at the Federal Reserve Bank. We talk to Mary Clare Peate in this episode to learn about that and a lot more!
In this episode, we discuss:
The Federal Reserve Bank and the St. Louis Fed
Teaching monopolistic competition to students
Using Barbie to teach economics
And a whole lot more!
Catch up on some old episodes:
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Watch this episode on YouTube:
Some show notes:
When Matt and Jadrian realized they’d be surrounded by a bunch of economics educators at JET SET, they figured it was the perfect time to “go on location” and record at an actual brewery. This was the first of several recordings at 16 Lots Southern Outpost in Newport, KY. We are so appreciative of their staff for letting us host our podcast for a couple of hours.
Our first chat was with Mary Clare Peate from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Mary Clare opted for a Diet Coke, but Jadrian and Matt wanted to make sure that 16 Lots knew we appreciated their gratitude. Jadrian kicked things off with a Brother Hubbard Berliner Weisse and Matt opted for a Soak City IPA.
All of us were in town for the JET SET conference, and Mary Clare shared the purpose of the journal and the conference. It brings together educators from various levels to discuss ways to improve economics education at all levels.
While learning about Mary Clare’s path to becoming an economics education specialist, Matt and Jadrian both learned that the Federal Reserve Banks were non-profit organizations. We joked after the episode about the divide that occurs between microeconomics and macroeconomists, and this was evidence of our limited knowledge of things that are probably discussed in the principles of macroeconomics course.
This week’s pop culture references:
Matt discussed a recent clip from Cheers that he posted where Cheers competes with their big rival, Gary’s Old Towne Tavern.
Jadrian went with a clip from Superior Donuts, which is his favorite one to use when teaching about monopolistic competition. Food trucks are perhaps the best example of “easy entry and exit” into markets, and they’re often serving very differentiated products:
Mary Clare Peate discusses the economics of Barbie - a report prepared by the St. Louis Fed on Women in the Workforce, which was particularly timely given the Barbie movie is breaking records. Mary Clare opted for a quiz, which we want to share with you as well. Matt was almost spot-on during the recording. Jadrian added a follow-up pop culture reference about how Barbie became so profitable thanks to two-part tariffs.
Check out the resources on teaching with Barie thanks to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis!
