Abstract for: MacroLab Lite for Introductory Macroeconomics

MacroLab is a comprehensive system dynamics-based macroeconomics model. It was originally conceived as a simple teaching tool for use in an introductory macroeconomics course at a community college. The earliest versions were designed for hands-on student use and emphasized constructive learning—learn by building. But the model grew like topsy during my dissertation project. By the time it was published , the stock-and-flow structure was much more complex, and I could sense a diminished grasp of underlying structure as the community college students lost touch with the stocks and flows. And that distance widened as opportunities to work with advanced graduate students and policy makers led to even more complexity. This paper describes an effort to fill that gap with a ‘lite’ version for introductory macroeconomics.