A ‘Big Think’ Approach to Government Debt

Drawing on Dee Fink's theory of significant learning, the authors present a 'big think' learning module to supplement fiscal policy discussions in introductory macroeconomics courses. Students are asked to consider a salient, contentious question that can be addressed in meaningful ways based on principles-level concepts and models, namely: 'In your judgment, does the recent steep rise in the US debt-to-GDP ratio pose a serious threat to the US economy? Why or why not?' To enhance students' willingness and ability to engage this big think question, the module provides open-ended preparatory exercises amenable to courses taught from heterodox or mainstream perspectives. Unlike standard textbook treatments which inadvertently thwart exploratory thinking and provide little support for analyzing case-specific burdens and benefits of government borrowing, the big think unit motivates students to think logically and creatively about the debt-GDP relationship in the current US context

Big government · Context (archaeology · Debt · Economics · Government (linguistics · Macroeconomics · Mainstream · Political science · Politics · Salient · Innovations in Educational Methods · Law

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  Marianne A Ferber•Feminist Economics•1999

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