I describe an assignment for a history of economic thought (HET) course, "The Most Interesting Economist in History," modeled off of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Students vote in head-to-head matchups between economic writers by era for whom they find to be more "interesting" and...

Economists often model the delicate relationship between production, innovation, and economic growth as a production function that exhibits increasing returns to scale (IRS). The existence of "knowledge spillovers" or "learning by doing" often implies conclusions about the optimal use of...