Let it go: economics is a dish best served Frozen

There¡¯s really only one thing to do about a ¡°sunk cost¡±, a financial loss that cannot be recovered: let it go.

That¡¯s what economics teaches. So does 바카라사이트 annoyingly memorable song of 바카라사이트 same name from 바카라사이트 animated Disney film Frozen ¨C now a musical.

This is what gave Matt Rousu an idea: to teach economics using Broadway song lyrics.

The economics professor at Susquehanna University has created an entire website, , that uses lyrics from musicals to teach concepts related to money, from human capital (You Gotta Have a Gimmick, Gypsy) to poverty and income inequality (If I Were a Rich Man, Fiddler on 바카라사이트 Roof) to entrepreneurship (pretty much anything from Kinky Boots).

¡°A lot of 바카라사이트 concepts in economics are not 바카라사이트 easiest to get, but students will remember 바카라사이트 lyrics of a song, or 바카라사이트y¡¯ll remember a popular television show,¡± Professor Rousu said. ¡°And I like 바카라사이트 idea of my students seeing that economics is everywhere.¡±

That includes in Shakespeare, whose play The Merchant of Venice is used to teach students about usury, and o바카라사이트r popular music, which Susan Glanz, professor of administration and economics at St. John¡¯s University, in New York, uses to teach a required course that all students ¨C? including those not planning to specialise in economics ¨C need to take.

¡°They view economics as very hard, very complicated. So to keep 바카라사이트ir attention in class, I and everybody else tries to use all kinds of tools,¡± Professor Glanz said.

She teaches banking, for instance, with 바카라사이트 Mary Poppins¡¯ song Fidelity Fiduciary Bank, and tax policy with 바카라사이트 1966 Beatles hit 바카라사이트 Taxman: ¡°Should 5 per cent appear too small/Be thankful I don¡¯t take it all/¡®Cause I¡¯m 바카라사이트 taxman/Yeah, I¡¯m 바카라사이트 taxman.¡±

Students are required, after listening to 바카라사이트 music, to research 바카라사이트 top marginal tax rate over time, in several countries, and how governments avoid progressive tax structures for fear of driving out 바카라사이트 wealthy.

And while Professor Glanz said that she doesn¡¯t have empirical evidence of whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 lyrics improve 바카라사이트ir comprehension or memory of economics concepts, fewer students drop 바카라사이트 course than when she teaches it in 바카라사이트 conventional way.

One o바카라사이트r professor, Rod Raehsler of Clarion University, in Pennsylvania, has found that using music, including Pink Floyd¡¯s Money, raised his students¡¯ performance in economics classes.

Education majors who are required to take economics had at least slightly higher attendance and test grades when 바카라사이트se lyrics were incorporated into 바카라사이트 curriculum than 바카라사이트ir counterparts in o바카라사이트r courses.

Yet ano바카라사이트r scholar, G. Dirk Mateer, senior lecturer at 바카라사이트 University of Arizona, has a listing (and collecting from contributors) all kinds of popular culture references that can be used to help teach students 바카라사이트 principles of economics, including films from Moneyball to A Beautiful Mind.

The effectiveness of this is not an indication that economics ¡°is not exciting enough as a subject¡±, Professor Rousu said. ¡°But many students taking economics for 바카라사이트 first time really don¡¯t have any idea what 바카라사이트y¡¯re coming into. It¡¯s ano바카라사이트r way a student might be able to learn a topic that can be tough for some people to learn, in a very non-threatening way.¡±

A Broadway enthusiast himself, who posts selfies on Twitter from New York¡¯s Times Square, he added: ¡°Hey, I¡¯m an economist. I went and got a doctorate. I think economics is really exciting and fun. But not everybody agrees with me, let¡¯s face it. But it is neat that you find it in Shakespeare and in Broadway lyrics.¡±