35,000 Principles of Economics Students: Some Lessons Learned‪.‬

1. Introduction One of the most dismal assertions ever made about teaching the "dismal science" was tendered by George J. Stigler in his American Economic Association presidential address. Stigler suggested that after five years, students would retain little or nothing of what they learned in a principles of economics course (1963). If Stigler is correct, this may explain why so many economists can restrain their enthusiasm for teaching introductory courses: a nagging concern that nothing of lasting value results from their labor. Nonetheless, in U.S. colleges and universities, the principles of economics course remains the most common entry point for economic education, and the number of students majoring in economics has risen in recent years (Siegfried 2006).