Media Resources
I first incorporated most of the media resources listed below into my undergraduate International Economics units in 2020, during the shift to online teaching. Despite some of the links between the media and course material being a bit of a stretch at times, the student feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Their enthusiasm has encouraged me to share these more broadly, in case they might save you some time or inspire new ideas. The resources are grouped by topic as follows:
- Globalisation
- Trade and Technology
- Trade and Resources (short-run)
- Trade and Resources (long-run)
- International Movement of Labour
- Trade Policy
- National and International Account
- Foreign Exchange Rates
Scroll down if you are interested in one particular topic.
Please note that I sourced most of the content below from the following websites, which you may wish to explore independently:
If you have any feedback or additional media resources to share, please send me an email at laura.puzzello@monash.edu.
Globalisation
I use the resources below in the first week of my unit when I provide an overview of globalisation and its history.
Clips
- Avengers: The Story of Globalization (from the MRU Globalisation Curriculum)
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Gains from Trade: Click here to watch a funny short video even my kids loved!
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Trade creates value—watch why!
- TED (short) Talk: How Containerization Shaped the Modern World
- Are we better off if we buy local?
Briefings
Trade and Technology
I use the resources below in the week I cover the Ricardian model of trade.
Clips
- Comparative Advantage and the Tragedy of Tasmania
- Fair Trade: Does it help poor workers? (Stressing the relationship between real wages and labor productivity!)
- Click here to see what (sudden) autarky would look like
Brain Breaks
- Opportunity cost: A Country Take on Opportunity Cost
- Production Possibility Frontier (PPF): A Country Take on the PPF
Other Resources
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Ricardo’s difficult Idea by Paul Krugman
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What wage inflation looks like (The Economist, 2011)
Trade and Resources (short-run)
I use the resources below in the week I cover the specific-factors model of trade.
Clips
- Creative Destruction: Trade and Technology (introduces the idea trade makes some people worse off - from the MRU Globalisation Curriculum
- Globalization who cares?… You do
Trade and Resources (long-run)
I use the resources below in the week I cover the Heckscher-Ohlin model of trade.
Clips
- Are there winners and losers from globalisation?
- Labour-abundant countries tend to use more labor-intensive techniques of production (source: Economics Media Library)
Briefings
International Movement of Labour
Clips
- What is the Economic Impact of Immigration?
- A crash course in the economics of immigration
- The case for immigration (by Giovanni Peri)
Brain Breaks
Trade Policy
- How Companies Design Products To Avoid Tariffs
- Who were the winners and losers of the 2018 trade war?
- The Environmental Bias of Trade Policy
- China’s Panda Diplomacy. One of the coolest examples of international trade is China’s use of pandas as a tool for encouraging international trade. While the pandas (and their eventual cubs) may come with a hefty fee, the majority of these pandas accompany major international trade deals that countries sign with China. This quick explainer video outlines the way China uses pandas to their advantage. (Source: Econ Media Library)
- Banana (Free Trade Camila Cabello Havana Parody)
Games
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Guess Game: CO2 Emissions Worldwide (1970-2018) — Does trade liberalisation explain some of the patterns? Play here
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To dodge Trump’s tariffs click here
Other Resources
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Trump’s trade war timeline—an updated guide (Peterson Institute for International Economics)
National and International Account
Clips
- The Balance of Payments
- The problem with global imbalances
- Current Account Deficits: When to Act?
Foreign Exchange Rates
Clips
- Currency Exchange Rates and You
- Arbitrage
- Eurotrip - Exchange Rate (source: Economics Media Library). Makes one think about a currency’s purchasing power.
Other Resources
- The Big Mac Index—The Economist