Welcome to macroeconomics!

Abstract

This article is a first day of class exercise that presents a controversial contemporary economic policy as the entry point for the study of principles of macroeconomics. The process and tools for critical thinking are presented and used to assess the macroeconomic outcomes of the (2017) Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Critical thinking involves a two-stage process for testing propositions about the economic system, one logical and the other empirical. The exercise introduces students to primary data sites, statistical analysis, and the use of critical thinking to make inferences about hypotheses associated with the impacts of the TCJA. The outcomes are, first and foremost, student appreciation and empowerment to self-test propositions about macroeconomic policies and their effects. Second, they will (should) understand the relevance of macroeconomic policy in affecting the material well-being of their lives. Third, students will have the expectation that macroeconomics is about active student learning from the outset, and that each day will be filled with discovery. Together, these outcomes create a classroom learning environment where students, working with the teacher, play a pivotal role in the educational process.