Office: Krannert Center, 231
Phone: (765)-494-8543
Email: mwatts@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 Michael Watts joined the Krannert faculty in1981 and serves as the director of the Purdue Center for Economic Education. He served as Chair of the American Economic Association's Committee on Economic Education from 2006-2012. He previously served as president of the National Association of Economic Educators and the society of Economics Educators, and as vice president of the Midwest Economic Association. He's listed in Who's Who in Economics, 4th ed., Elgar. His work has been published in numerous journals and he is the editor of the Literary Book of Economics and several books on teaching economics.

He made more than 50 trips to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union from 1992-2005, to help universities in those countries restructure their economics curriculum and to train or retrain university and secondary economics teachers and teacher trainers. He taught in training programs for economics teachers in Egypt and Mexico and has served as a keynote speaker in conferences in Korea, Japan, Australia, and England. He was voted the outstanding instructor in Krannert's GISMA MBA program in 2003, and received teaching awards from KGSA in 1990 and 1991. He is a member of the Purdue Teaching Academy. His main teaching interests include microeconomics, labor economics, managerial economics, public policy analysis, and the history of economic thought.

His major publications include The Literary Book of Economics; "Economics Coursework and Long-Term Behavior and Experience of College Graduates in Labor Markets and Personal Finance (with S. Allgood, W. Bosshardt, and W. van der Klaauw); "Time Allocations and Reward Structures for Academic Economists from 1995 to 2005: Evidence from Three National Surveys" (with C. Harter and W. Becker; "Not Such Innocents Abroad?" (with G. Schaur); "Assessment Practices and Trends in Undergraduate Economics Courses" (with G. Schaur and W. Becker; "Undergraduate Students and Coursework in Economics: Results from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Study" (with W. Bosshardt); "A Little More than Chalk and Talk: Results from a National Survey" (with W. Becker); "What Students Remember and Say About College Economics Years Later" (with S. Allgood, W. Bosshardt, and W. van der Klaauw);  "Is Sexy Economics and Economics Teaching Necessary or Sufficient?";How Economists Use Literature and Drama;" "A Statewide Assessment of Pre-College Economic Understanding and DEEP;" Teaching Economics: More Alternatives to Chalk and Talk (with W. Becker); "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); "How Departments of Economics Evaluate Teaching" (with W. Becker); National Standards in Economics, History, Social Studies, Civics, and Geography: Complementarities, Competition, or Peaceful Coexistence?" (with S. Buckles)"Teaching Economics to Undergraduates: Alternatives to Chalk and Talk (co-editor, with W. Becker); ; "Who Values Economic Literacy?"; "Chalk and Talk: A National Survey on Teaching Undergraduate Economics" (with W. Becker); "Instructor Effects in Economic Education: Panel Data Estimates from Elementary and Middle Schools" (with W. Bosshardt); "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, Korean 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.