2011 ICES Summer High School Workshop in Economics

Understanding the fundamentals of economics has become crucial for an accurate interpretation of the complexity of current social, economic, and political events.

ICES Summer High School Workshop in Economics aims to teach high school students about economics prior to their enrollment to college, facilitate them in the process of establishing a learning habit, and strengthen their aspiration for continuous learning.

Application Fee

Accepted students have to pay $450. The fee covers workshop materials, breakfast, lunch, refreshments, t-shirt and workshop package with workshop information and economic learning sources.

Objectives of this workshop are:

• Introduce students to fundamental concepts of economics to help them accurately understand the workings of the markets and the influence of institutions on current social, political, and economic issues.
• Involve students in experimental games that demonstrate how markets emerge, how market signals guide individual choices, and how subjective individual decisions depend on spontaneously emerging incentives.
• Train students’ economic thinkings by teaching them how to assess market components such as incentives, unintended consequences, mutual benefits of exchange, etc.
• Inspire students to delve into further individual research that will advance their intellect by introducing them to interesting literature sources and provide them with suggested readings.

Workshop lessons will be delivered in two forms: experimental games and engaging lectures. Experimental games aim to stimulate a classroom market, whereas lectures aim to provide  detailed lessons about economic concepts that were demonstrated during experimental games.

The following topics will be covered during the workshop:

• Scarcity, opportunity cost, and trade-offs
• Incentives and Institutions
• Supply and demand
• Competition and market structure
• Absolute and comparative advantage
• Economic freedom, property rights, and enforced contracts
• Tragedy of commons, common goods, and free riders
• Production possibility curve, marginal utility, and the diminishing marginal returns
• Asymmetric Information and Principal-agent Problem