The SMS is offered to upper elementary, middle, junior high and high school students throughout the state of Wisconsin each semester for a 10-week period.  The Fall program runs from October 8, 2001 - December 14, 2001, the Spring program runs from February 11, 2002 - April 19, 2002.  Students compete to win prizes by increasing their portfolio values the most.  

It is a simulation that teachers can easily use as a simple introduction to the markets, and it also has the capability of being more sophisticated as students master the basic information.  EconomicsWisconsin holds workshops each Fall and Spring to help teachers with lesson plans and resource materials.  A help line is maintained in Milwaukee at our office where teachers can call for answers to questions.

There are cash prizes for the Junior and Senior divisions, eight recognition banquets, and an all-expense paid trip to New York City, awarded to the statewide winning team.  

Remarks at College of Letters & Science Forum on September 11 Terrorist Attacks          Back
BY: Lawrence A. Weiser - Director, Center for Economic Education, UW-Stevens Point

Thank you for inviting me to participate in this forum to discuss one of the most dramatic and tragic events in the history of our country.  

As our moderator indicated, I am an economist, a practitioner of the Dismal Science, a pessimistic purveyor of gloom and doom.  But this afternoon I feel a strong obligation to try to provide a balanced perspective on our economic future.  My knowledge and experience leads me to search for the glimmers of optimism hiding among the rubble of despair.   

Again, my students learn that the national economy can be analyzed in four major sectors: consumption spending, business investment, government spending, and international trade.  Developments in these sectors, along with our financial markets, will determine the short-run and long-run time path for our economy.

Let me emphasize that time is on our side.  As Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and other economists have stated, the events of September 11 have significantly affected the confidence of consumers, business decision makers, and financial investors.  However, I believe that in a few weeks, assuming there are no more terrorist attacks, families will return to the shopping malls and theme parks, business firms will begin to rebuild inventories, and investors will worry about missing out on the inevitable surge of financial asset prices.  

The confidence factor is the most difficult to forecast, but studies of the economic impact of disasters such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and even bombing attacks in Europe, generally find that economic activity rebounds to pre-disaster levels in a reasonable period of time.  In fact, damage repair and reconstruction provide economic stimulation to local economic development.  

Wisconsin and other state governments may see their tax revenues decrease as incomes, sales, and profits stagnate or decline.  Specifically, tax revenues from fuel, travel businesses, and retail sales may decrease.  On the expenditure side of state budgets, outlays on unemployment insurance and security concerns may escalate.  These hard blows to state fiscal resources are coming on top of an already slowing economy.  Under current laws, states will have to either cut budget items drastically or seek alternative funding sources, or a combination of both.  Obviously, this is exactly the wrong time for budget stringency.  One way that the federal government can assist us is by providing more funds through special revenue sharing legislation.  Helping to maintain the quality of K-12 and university education in our states and local communities is an investment in the productive future of our nation.  We must not allow terrorists to erode the high quality educational institutions that we have built for our children.  

The impact of the attacks on our international trade is even more speculative.  During this period of stress and anxiety, there may be initiatives to protect and isolate ourselves from the rest of the world through erecting barriers to imports and immigrants.  We must not surrender to these irrational impulses.  Our own prosperity, and the promise of improved living standards for poor nations around the world, is highly dependent on the size and openness of the American market.  We must maintain our leadership in expanding and improving the global economy.  We cannot afford to create a fortress America.  That would be unwise, impoverishing, and immoral.     

Distinguished Wisconsin Stock Market Simulation Advisor    Back

Left to Right: Jack Kundert, Secretary, State Dept. of Financial Institutions, Loras Kruser, Principal, Shullsburg H.S., Robert J. Boyle, Economics Teacher, Shullsburg H.S., Mrs. Jeannie Boyle, Mary Van Volkinburg, 1^st VP Advertising Mgr., Corp. Office, Robert W. Baird.

Robert J. Boyle, an Economics teacher at Shullsburg High School was awarded the 2001 Robert W. Baird & Co. Distinguished Wisconsin Stock Market Simulation Advisor Award, which included a five-day seminar in August, held at the New York Stock Exchange. The Wisconsin Stock Market Simulation (SMS) program is provided by EconomicsWisconsin (Wisconsin Council on Economic Education).  Boyle has had teams honored many times at the regional recognition dinners held each semester for the top 6 teams in each of 8 regions in the state.

Mary Van Volkinburg, First V.P., Advertising Manager, Corporate Office, Robert W. Baird & Co., made the presentation.  Boyle has been an Economics teacher for over 20 years and has had this program as a part of his teaching since 1992.  He was honored at the summer Board of Directors meeting luncheon of EconomicsWisconsin, hosted by Northern Trust Bank of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. The Distinguished Advisor Award is designed to provide recognition to a full-time teacher advisor for outstanding classroom use of the Simulation and for stimulating creative integration of the Simulation into Wisconsin classrooms.  Robert W. Baird & Co. generously underwrites the cost of the New York

Workshop trip, as well as a marble apple clock trophy and a $750 stipend, given directly to the teacher.  This is the second year the award has been made.  Last year, Mike Behan from Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau High School was the recipient.

New Program Director Appointed     Back

Dr. Lawrence Weiser, UW-Stevens Point Center for Economic Education, has been appointed as the new Program Director for EconomicsWisconsin.  Dr. Weiser succeeds Dr. James Grunloh, UW-Oshkosh Center for Economic Education, in that post.  The Program Director plans and coordinates economic education activities among the eight Centers for Economic Education in Wisconsin.  Last year, over 3,000 teachers and education students participated in these programs.  

Dr. Weiser holds the position of Eugene Katz Letters and Science Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.  He has been Director of the UW-Stevens Point Center since 1990, and he will continue to carry out those duties.  Dr. Tracy Hofer has been appointed as Associate Director of the Center , and she will assume some teaching and administrative responsibilities during the coming academic year.  

Professor Weiser teaches courses in international economics, social insurance, and economic education.  He is an authority on Internet resources for economic education and has written articles and presented workshops on this topic.  Dr. Weiser, in collaboration with Dr. Grunloh, has been teaching online courses in economic education to K-12 teachers from school districts throughout Wisconsin.  Also, he supervises the development and maintenance of the Web site for EconomicsWisconsin.

Dr. Weiser has academic degrees from Roosevelt University and UW-Madison.  He has served as President of the Wisconsin Economics Association and Chair of the Division of Business and Economics at UW-Stevens Point.

Please Help Us            Back

Contributions made to EconomicsWisconsin are tax-deductible.  To make your contribution, please call our office at (414) 221-9400, or mail your check to EconomicsWisconsin, 7635 Bluemound Road, Suite 106, Milwaukee, WI 53203.   Due to current economic conditions, your financial support is extremely important to us at this time.