Office: Krannert Center, 231
Phone: (765)-494-8543
Email: mwatts@krannert.purdue.edu
Center Web site: http://www.mgmt.purdue.edu/centers/pcee/

Ph.D., Economics, Louisiana State University, 1978
M.A., Economics, Louisiana State University, 1974
B.A., Economics, Louisiana State University, 1972

Professor Watts has been with Krannert since 1981. He is the director of the Purdue Center for Economic Education and an associate editor of the Journal of Economic Education . He has served as president of the National Association of Economic Educators and the Society of Economics Educators, as Vice President of the Midwest Economic Association, and as a member of the American Economic Association's Committee on Economic Education. He is listed in Who's Who in Economics, 4th ed., Elgar. He has made more than 30 trips to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union since 1992, to help universities in those countries restructure their economics curriculums, and to train or retrain university and secondary economics teachers and teacher trainers. His main teaching interests include microeconomics, labor economics, managerial economics, public policy analysis, and history of economic thought.

His major publications include The Literary Book of Economics; "Is Sexy Economics and Economics Teaching Necessary or Sufficient?"; "Faculty Incentives and Time Allocations in U.S. Departments of Economics" (with C. Harter and W. Becker); Reforming Economics and Economics Teaching in the Transition Economies (co-editor, with W. Walstad); "Reforming Undergraduate Economics Instruction in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine" (with A. Kovzik); "Comparing Student and Instructor Evaluations of Teaching" (with W. Bosshardt); Teaching Economics to Undergraduates: Alternatives to Chalk and Talk (co-editor, with W. Becker); "How Departments of Economics Evaluate Teaching" (with W. Becker); "Who Values Economic Literacy?"; "Chalk and Talk: A National Survey on Teaching Undergraduate Economics" (with W. Becker); "An Appraisal of Economics Content in the History, Civics, Social Studies, and Geography National Standards" (with S. Buckles); Voluntary National Standards for K-12 Economic Education (with a writing committee); "A Comparison of the Views of Economists, Economic Educators, Teachers, and Journalists on Economic Issues" (with W. Becker and W. Walstad); "Teaching Methods for Undergraduate Economics" (with W. Becker); "The Principles Courses Revisited" (with G. Lynch); "How Instructors Make a Difference: Panel Data Estimates from Principles of Economics Courses" (with W. Bosshardt); "Economics in Literature and Drama" (with R. Smith); "Student Gender and School District Differences Affecting the Stock and Flow of Economic Knowledge"; "International Economics in U.S. High Schools: Results from a National Survey" (with R. Highsmith); "Economic Policy and the Lives of Contemplation, Civic Humanism, Collectivism and Individualism"; and "School District Inputs and Biased Estimation of Educational Production Functions." His articles have appeared in the Journal of Economic Education, Review of Economics and Statistics, American Economic Review, Southern Economic Journal, Economic Inquiry, Eastern Economic Journal, and other professional journals. He wrote a pamphlet, "What Is a Market Economy?" for the U.S. Information Agency that has been translated into Russian, Polish, and more than thirty other languages. Professor Watts also co-authored a high school textbook published by Laidlaw Brothers (MacMillan) and has prepared other materials on economics for elementary, secondary, and university students and instructors, and for adult and employee education programs.

Professor Watts has served as a consultant for such organizations as the National Council on Economic Education, Indianapolis Children's Museum, Indianapolis Civic Theater, Agency for Instructional Technology, Educational Testing Services, The College Board, Internal Revenue Service, Microsoft, TRW, B.F. Goodrich, Amoco Foundation, College Board, International Monetary Fund, U.S. Information Agency, and Christian Theological Seminary.