Author Highlights
Both Teaching Award Recipients
Micro/Macro Economics for Life are the only principles text written by national-teaching-award winners — both past members of the prestigious American Economic Association Committee on Economic Education — with expertise in economics (Cohen, PhD Economics, Stanford) and in economics education (Wolla, MA, PhD Economics for Educators, Curriculum and Instruction).
Scott Wolla
Scott Wolla is a lifelong economic educator and curriculum developer. As Assistant Vice President and Economic Education Officer, he directs economic education programming at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Scott leads a team in developing a wide range of economics curricula, including lessons, online learning modules, videos, and podcasts, and providing professional development for teachers nationwide. His work has been highlighted by major news media, including The Economist, The New York Times, National Public Radio, Bloomberg News, and BBC News. Besides Scott’s well-known expertise in updating the teaching of monetary policy, he brings unmatched expertise in economics education, and has taken the lead on all pedagogical aspects of Micro/Macro Economics for Life.
Avi J. Cohen
Avi J. Cohen is Adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto and University Professor Emeritus of Economics at York University. He is a pioneer of the literacy-targeted approach to teaching principles of economics. In collaboration with writing instructors, he previously pioneered the introduction of the Writing Across the Curriculum movement in economics. A more recent collaboration, integrating abstract and op-ed writing assignments into a face-to-face principles course with 500 students, and an online course with 400 students, also appears in the Journal of Economic Education. Before authoring Micro/Macro Economics for Life (in Canada and the U.S.), he was a long-time creator of educational materials, starting in 1992 and continuing through eight editions of Study Guides for the Parkin and Bade introductory economics textbooks.
The podcast file below is embedded with permission from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: “If Students Only Take One Econ Course, What Should They Learn?” Teach Economics Podcast with guest Professor Avi J. Cohen, published March 13, 2025. © 2025 Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis. All views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis or the Federal Reserve System.