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Link round-up

Here are a few links if you want to procrastinate from grading, or get inspired for next semester...

2012 Christmas Price Index: The Cost of Christmas is up 4.8% this year. Each year, PNC makes the website a little more complicated. This year, you have to go around the world to find each item. If you have a slow internet connection, I think it would be kind of frustrating (each scene seems to take a while to load, even with a decent connection) but if you just want the punchline, click on 2012 Gift Price Index in the menu along the bottom.

Deck the Halls with Macro Follies: The latest video from EconStories (the guys who brought us Hayek vs. Keynes) has Keynes and other macro forefathers explaining their theories to the tune of Christmas carols.

How Economics Saved Christmas: This 2010 parody of 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' is a great way to introduce externalities (hat tip to Economist Educators!).

Tons of Quick Tips for Flipping Your Class: The 'flipped classroom' (i.e., having student acquire content outside of class so that class time can be used for interaction and applications) seems to be a big buzzword these days. Whether you've been flipping your class for years, or just beginning to think about it, the Peer Instruction blog has lots of great advice.

EdTech resources on Pinterest: I'm not a 'pinner' but this board (via Texas Wesleyan CETL) appears to have some great resources for edtech geeks.

And on a side note: If anyone is planning to attend the Western Economic Association conference in Seattle next summer (or is in the Seattle area already) and would be interested in being part of a panel on making classes more interactive, please email me!

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