Marginal URLs:

• p. 3: Go to http://www.ecominfocenter.com/ to access the eCommerce Info Center and explore whether it is in a consumer's self-interest to shop on the Internet. Click on "To e-shoppers," and then click on "Consumer Info."

• To learn more about Ori Heffetz's research on conspicuous consumption, go to http://forum.johnson.cornell.edu/faculty/heffetz/.
• To learn about economist Edward Miller's study of conspicuous consumption of "status goods," go to http://octavia.zoology.washington.edu/handicap/veblen.html.

The Usefulness of Studying Economics

This application helps you see how accomplished people benefited from their study of economics. It also explores ways in which these people feel others of all walks of life can gain from learning more about the economics field.

Title: How Taking an Economics Course Can Lead to Becoming an Economist

Navigation: Go to http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/region/98-12/ to visit the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis publication, The Region. Select the last article of the issue, Economists in The Region on Their Student Experiences and the Need for Economic Literacy.

Application: Read the interviews of the six economists, and answer the following questions.

1. Based on your reading, what economists do you think other economists regard as influential? What educational institutions do you think are the most influential in economics?

2. Which economists do you think were attracted to microeconomics and which to macroeconomics?