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The authors address two informal writing assignments implemented in introductory economics classes. One assignment involves students writing short reflection papers, and the other assignment involves students writing short journal entries for a designated period of time. Both assignments are designed to help students realize that economics is directly pertinent to their daily lives. Pedagogical issues related to both the benefits to students and the benefits and costs to faculty who implement the assignments are discussed. These assignments can provide beneficial insights to newer faculty members, who are adjusting to university and local community life, and contribute to developing new course material of perceived relevance to students.

The effects of employment growth and structural factors on unemployment rates in Pennsylvania counties are analyzed using panel data for 1990-2005. Economic, demographic, and regional explanatory variables are included. The results reveal that employment growth will reduce unemployment rates very modestly over time. The crime rate, manufacturing employment share, and percentage of females with young children also have negative relationships with the unemployment rate. Structural factors including the high school dropout rate, the African-American population share, the population shares under age 18 and over age 64, the male labor force, and the percentage of residents born in-state raise unemployment rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between changes in income inequality and educational attainment rates in Pennsylvania counties during the 1990s. The dependent variable is the change in the Gini coefficient over the decade. Independent variables include: the Gini coefficient for 1990, educational attainment rates at the high school, bachelor's degree, and graduate/professional levels, the fraction of the county population that is elderly, population density in the county, the unemployment rate in the county, and real public educational expenditures for the five years preceding the study period. Ordinary Least Squares regressions, corrected for heteroskedasticity, suggest that the elderly proportion of the population and population density in counties are significantly associated with unfavorable changes in their income inequality over time. Alternatively, the initial level of income inequality, the high school attainment rate, and, in some instances, the bachelor's degree attainment rate are significantly associated with favorable changes in income inequality over time for Pennsylvania counties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]