These Economics W.I.R.E.D. activities recommend web links that relate to key concepts of each chapter of the textbook. For each link, there are instructions to guide you to specific information, followed by several discussion questions or exercises.

Key Concepts: Case Study: The Recent Wage Boom, Labor Demand, Labor Supply, Explaining Wage Differences, Wage Payments and Incentives, Labor Unions

White House—Economic Statistics Briefing Room

Review the graphical data on "Average Hourly Earnings" and "Productivity."

• Explain why productivity is positively related to wages.
• Select any listed public company and assess how much its CEO "raked in" last year at the AFL CIO web site. Provide a "rational" economic explanation for the current wide disparities in earnings between CEOs and workers.
• Survey the potential areas of employment discrimination. Explain why productivity may not explain everything about wages.