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These are the best new articles, videos, podcasts, and other resources we have found to teach economic growth. They bring economics to life by showing students real-life examples and current events.
 

News Articles

(Listed from most recent to oldest)

Why the US economy is leading its peers | Morning Brew (Oct. 23, 2024)
The average U.S. worker will produce $171,000 of goods and services this year, over $50,000 more than the average European employee and $75,000 more than the average Japanese employee.

Nobel Prize in economics 2024 awarded to Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson for explaining why some nations are rich and others poor | CNN Business (Oct. 14, 2024)
The Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to Acemglu, Johnson, and Robinson for their work comparing the effect of extractive vs. inclusive institutions on long term economic growth.

Britain saw centuries of economic growth under Roman rule | New Scientist (July 5, 2024)
New technology, laws, and infrastructure brought in by the Romans contributed to economic growth in Britain between 43-400 A.D.

Countries with Highest GDP Growth 2024 | Global Finance Magazine (May 2, 2024)
A cautionary tale of Nauru’s economic rise and fall, along with GDP growth by country for the past 5 years, including a 5-year average. This site pairs nicely with our Countdown to 100K resource.

Why foreign direct investment into China is collapsing | Quartz (Feb. 20, 2024)
Foreign investment in China is the lowest it has been since 1993. The drying up of foreign investment could signal slower economic growth for China.

(Mis)remembering Chile’s military coup | Financial Times (Sept. 14, 2023)
Institutions matter for long-run economic growth. Teachers can get free access to the Financial Times through the FT Schools Program.

How India's Economy Will Overtake the U.S.'s | TIME (Jul. 28, 2023)
Why is India likely to grow faster than China in the coming decades? This article also presents an opportunity to practice applying the rule of 70.

Will China ever get rich? A new era of much slower growth dawns | Reuters (Jul. 7, 2023)
China's growth rates have slowed, making catching up to the US soon unlikely.

How Bangladesh went from an economic miracle to needing IMF help | NPR (Nov. 9, 2022)
Bangladesh, once lauded as an economic miracle, is struggling to maintain its economic growth following the COVID-19 pandemic and widespread inflation.

A study of lights at night suggests dictators lie about economic growth | The Economist (September 29, 2022)
This is a gated article, but the chart is accessible. The chart shows how unfree regimes overstate GDP. A good example of a novel dataset and the importance of considering the source of data. If you can’t read the article, check out this similar article on VOA.

Understanding Baumol’s cost disease and its impact on healthcare | Forbes (April 8, 2022)
What is Baumol’s cost effect, and why healthcare services have become more expensive since the 1950s? You can use this article to discuss productivity, wages, efficiency, automation, and growth.

Why nations fail, American edition | Planet Money Newsletter (January 19, 2021)
Article profiling economist Daren Acemoglu on why some nations succeed while others fail. He “argues that political institutions — not culture, natural resources or geography — explain why some nations have gotten rich while others remain poor.”

Videos

The Hockey Stick of Human Prosperity | MRU
Gain a new appreciation for your underwear. This video sums up the history of human prosperity and the specialized production processes that have created so much prosperity over the past 250 years.

Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes | Joy of Statistics
Who, apart from Hans Rosling, could muster this much enthusiasm for statistics? This is an oldie, but a goodie. For more up-to-date statistics have students visit GapMinder for themselves.

Pixels of Progress: A Guided Tour | McKinsey & Company
Looking for a video follow-up to 200 countries, 200 years? Here's a more detailed examination of economic growth from 2000-2019 that looks at economic growth on the microregion level.

Puzzle of Growth: Rich Countries and Poor Countries | MRU
This video provides a good overview of the wide variety of factors that are important for fostering economic growth.

Podcasts

The History Of Light, In 6 Minutes And 47 Seconds | NPR
A summary of William Norhaus’ study of light costs from Babylonians and whales and the economic structures needed to support the rise of the electric light bulb.

Why oil in Guyana could be a curse | The Indicator
Exxon found significant amounts of oil in Guyana in 2015, but can Guyana avoid the resource curse?

What nails can tell us about how far we’ve come | The Indicator 
Nails can tell us a lot about how the economy has grown.

Additional Resources

What’s Included in U.S. GDP? Interactive Practice | MRU

Holiday Edition: What’s Included in U.S. GDP? Interactive Practice | MRU

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