Using Timetric in the Classroom

Our friends at Timetric make a vast range of economic data accessible in an easy to use format for direct use in the classroom. I brought the Timetric web site into play today when drawing on real-world data to explore the idea of the Lorenz Curve and changes in the distribution of income over time for a cluster of countries.

To introduce the Lorenz Curve and the Gini Coefficient, I called up Timetric’s database taken from the World Bank.

A quick use of the search string allowed me to isolate the share of income flowing to the five quintiles in the Brazilian population.

Clicking on the data using an IWB immediately creates a data chart but I opted to leave the data unclicked at the start and asked students what share of income they might expect for each 20% grouping starting with the poorest 20%. This gets them to think of an unequal distribution.

Revealing the data in this way makes the plotting of a Lorenz Curve straightforward and cements the idea quickly.

Inevitably this prompts classroom discussion about how the Lorenz Curve might differ from country to country and once again, Timetric makes life easy for a teacher using an IWB as one simply changes the search string and substitutes Brazil for another nation - for example - South Africa

Not every country in the database has a fully time series to show changes in the pattern of income inequality, but there is bound to be enough there for students to engage in their own research, and look for other examples of ways in which the income and wealth gap between rich and poor can be measured - for example, the changing percentage of a nation’s population (in this case China) living below the benchamark figure of US $2 per day or US $1.25 per day (PPP adjusted).

We would be really interested to hear from other colleagues who have made use of the Timetric web site in their teaching and learning. And we would love to share some of your experiences and ideas for using it in AS and A2 work.

Economic data on Brazil from Timetric

Economic data on China from Timetric

Economic data on South Africa from Timetric