My thoughts

Controlled burn

We tend to view forest fires as a threat and something to avoid at all costs, and it's only recently that we've figured out that trying to prevent all fires actually makes the fires worse when they do get out of control, because of the buildup of dead branches and foliage on the floor of the forest. Fires appear to destroy environments in the short run, but in the long run you need a fire every once in a while to ensure a healthy habitat. This virus is out of control and will cause a lot of damage, but it's also clearing a path for new growth.

April 1, 2020

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The CARES Act, Part 1

This bill is being referred to as a stimulus package or a "bailout", but I think it's more helpful to think of it as government spending replacing private consumer spending. When the government is enacting social distancing measures, even enforcing "shelter-in-place" policies in many places, that is going to affect consumer spending immensely. All of a sudden, no one is flying, no one is eating in restaurants, no one is going to the movies, etc. Because the government is telling people not to do these things, does it follow that the negatively affected companies deserve to get some of their lost revenue replaced with government funds?

March 31, 2020

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Unemployment

If you don't think about it, your first instinct may be that anyone without a job is unemployed. If you do think about it, it gets complicated quickly. Okay, the concept is still simple, you just have to divide the the number of "unemployed" by the "labor force", and that gets you the unemployment rate. Defining those terms is where it gets tricky.

March 30, 2020

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Remote teaching Economics

Since this has been my approach for so long, one of my first reactions to big economic events is imagining how it fits into my big-picture plan for the semester—how can I use this as a teaching tool, and how can I explain it using terms and concepts we've already learned? Do I need to tread water and spend time in related areas so we have our bases covered before the next pitch?

March 30, 2020

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I’m better than Simone Biles (and here’s how)

Why do we have celebrities throw first pitches? The entire point is seeing someone who is famous for not-baseball reasons do a baseball thing under pressure. It’s weird to watch a first pitch and comment on everything except the actual throw.

October 24, 2019

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I’m better than Simone Biles

Why do we have celebrities throw first pitches? The entire point is seeing someone who is famous for not-baseball reasons do a baseball thing under pressure. It's weird to watch a first pitch and comment on everything except the actual throw.

October 24, 2019

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How a dodgeball tournament explains the game of life

The rules of the game matter, because people respond to incentives. This lesson is a breeze to teach in Economics class, but it's essential to survival as a P.E. teacher. All teachers have to learn how to adapt on the fly, but the physical aspect of P.E. gives it a sense of urgency. Games can break down quickly, and if you don't recognize it and know how to fix it, you're gonna have a bad time.

August 22, 2019

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Seven reasons why you should give track & field a shot

In Any Given Sunday, Al Pacino said "Football is a game of inches". Well, track is a game of half inches. Of half of half of inches. Of tenths and hundredths of seconds. It is hard to split the margin for error any finer. As races get shorter, the margin for error does, too. At our first meet this year, one of our girls ran the 100m in 13.90 seconds, a PR by 0.38 seconds. That's a huge improvement, but if she had cut off an additional five hundredths (0.05), she would have finished three places higher!

April 5, 2019

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