Using Illustrations from American Novels to Teach about Labor Markets

This article illustrates how literature can bring models to life in undergraduate courses on labor market economics. The authors argue that economics instructors and students can benefit from even small doses of literature. The authors examine excerpts from five American novels: Sister Carrie by Theodore Drieser (1900/2005); The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939/1967); McTeague: A Story of San Francisco by Frank Norris (1899/2006); Moby...