Welcome, students of GE273 Microeconomics and EG452. This is an exciting if not harrowing time to be learning the dismal science, which is economics. Please use the site’s navigation on the right to access each week’s assignments.
EG452 is being taught on 2 schedules. Burr Ridge students are on an 11-week schedule, while, due to a January holiday, Mount Prospect students are on a 12-week schedule.
I posted a couple of new book links on the Recommended Reading page. Keynes: Return of the Master is on the policies of John Maynard Keynes as put forth by his biographer, Robert Skidelsky. The other is an offering by a Australian economist, Steve Keen, Debunking Economics in the neo-Classical vein.
Distinguished Harvard University law scholar Elizabeth Warren gives an excellent lecture at UC Berkley in March 2007 about the income disparities and greater economic risks for a family in 2005 versus 1970 and the shrinking middle class. It lasts about an hour.
This is an relevant article about cost/benefit analysis as it relates to oil extraction. This field in Schoonebeek, Netherlands was shut down when oil prices dropped, but demand has influenced the oil price, which is now selling for over $80 a barrel, it is worth it to reopen it.
An interesting New York Times article asking how can the Obama administration and Ben Bernanke be asking for the Fed to have more powers, when it couldn’t even see the last bubble coming in the first place.
Watch this time lapse Flash piece animating the unemployment picture in the United States from January 2007 rhough October 2009.
The article showcases that commonly accepted economic measurements are divorced from our experiences in the real world. We watch GDP figures and the Dow index (DJIA) going up, and we wonder why we are sharing in the gain.
As noted in the article, Simon Kuznets, the developer of GDP said, “The welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income.” Moreover, through the lens of GDP, the rebuilding of New Orleans after Katrina adds to GDP, whilst the destruction caused by the hurricane is not a factor. When you add positives and avoid negatives, it is no surprise the number maintains an upward trend.
The DJIA is another suspect metric. A compilation of 30 large companies is hardly a mirror of how the average person is doing. Even a broader index such as the S&P 500 is entirely focused on corporate growth. Where is the Quality of Life 100 and the Friends Helping Friends 50? These would be based on qualitative factors, and so might not be meaningful, but wouldn’t it be nice to have an index for the commoner?
Wal-Mart and the Kroger supermarket chain have severed ties with one of the country’s major blueberry growers after an ABC News investigation found children working in its fields. At Adkin Blue Ribbon Packing Company in South Haven, Michigan, a five-year-old child was found working alongside his seven- and eight-year-old brothers. As part of the ABC News investigation, four fellows from the Carnegie Corporation spent weeks in fruit and vegetable fields in Michigan, New Jersey and North Carolina.
Source: Democracy Now!
This is a good article discussing tax redistribution and income inequality from 2000 to 2007. Notice that the top fifth of income earners received about $18,713 in tax breaks, while the bottom fifth only got $706. Well, of course, the high income families woudl be expected to get a larger break because they have more money in the first place; so, notice as well that on a percentage basis, the top quintile received a break of 12.82% versus 6.97%. This is known as a regressive tax policy. The top tier started from a higher base, so mathematically this is not entirely shocking. However, it does depict a trend diminishing the benefits of a progressive taxation system. There are some interesting responses after the main post, too.
A new report by the National Academy of Sciences estimates that burning fossil fuels costs the United States about $120 billion a year in hidden costs. The study estimated that nearly 20,000 people die prematurely each year from air pollutants emitted by power plants and vehicles. The study found that coal burning was the biggest single source of such external costs. Environmental groups said the actual hidden cost of burning fossil fuels is even higher, because the study did not include expenses related to global warming. The National Mining Association criticized the report for ignoring what it described as the hidden benefits of coal-based generation.
Source: DemocracyNow!
