FCL Series - TTC - Contemporary Economic Issues

A few of the lectures in this college course are a little out of date (such as ‘are we due for a market crash?’), but it still serves as an excellent contemporary assessment of our modern multi-tiered economy. This is entry-level material, but judging from some of remarkably asinine and simplistic comments I have heard in recent months from both citizens and pundits, it would appear that most of us don’t seem to realize how complex or interwoven the economy is. Dismissing emotion and embracing cold logic for awhile, it is good to assess the current need or role of unions, is national health care viable, what of farm subsidies, other nation’s economies, the role of the federal government, and tax issues. Much of the FCL series so far (and in future torrents) has been historical and theoretical / philosophical. This torrent is meant to examine the major features of our economy in their current form. It is my vain hope that someone might be encouraged to vote congressionally over the issues of tariffs instead of whether or not we legalize abortion or pot. Folks – there’s a difference between the quality of the house’s foundation, and what color we choose to PAINT the damn thing.

Rambam1776



Contemporary Economic Issues
The Teaching Company lecture series #570
Prof. Timothy Taylor
48 lectures / 30 minutes each / 64kbps
http://www.teach12.com/teach12.aspx


Aside from war and peace, most of today's important public issues are economic ones.
• Can U.S. economic leadership be sustained?
• Is airline deregulation good or bad?
• Should we include environmental and worker protections in trade pacts?
• What, if any, are the side effects of minimum-wage laws?
• What does it mean for Europe to adopt a unified currency?
• Is immigration good for the U.S. economy?
• What's the best way to cut pollution?


These 48 lectures address six major themes that cover the entire spectrum of policy debate over our economic well-being and our future:
• the forces of competition
• America's workers
• investing in America's future
• budget and monetary policies
• trade and exchange-rate policy
• a tour of the global economy.
The Region, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, had this to report about Professor Timothy Taylor's course:
"These 30-minute lectures define the issue, give salient facts, use economic reasoning to compare policy options and conclude with Taylor's observations on the issue. They are easy to follow and free of economic jargon.
"Listening to these lectures reveals why Taylor is the recipient of teaching awards from Stanford University and the University of Minnesota. His presentations' facts and concepts are easy to grasp. Also, his use of historical examples and quotes from economists and other notables make his lectures enjoyable, as well as informative. For example, from Dickens' A Christmas Carol, did you know that Bob Cratchit was a better economist than Ebenezer Scrooge?"


The “FCL” Series – For some length of time now, I’ve given some thought to putting out something like this. A principal problem is that of labels, and another is the lack of room in a torrent description to write anything approaching even a SYNOPSIS of a clear manifesto. Therefore, I have decided to call this FCL (an acronym for Fiscal Conservative Libertarian) for the sake of brevity and clarity.

There are in America (and to a lesser degree in Europe) a huge number of people who would largely fit into this camp. We are the practical, the scientific, the skeptical and the truly logically analytical. We are IN NO WAY dogmatic or organized, but we generically agree to a certain extent on some core ideas. We think people who attend rallies or protests are shmucks. We think people can express their political opinions on bumperstickers are too stupid to vote. We think whenever we hear the phrase “there ought to be a law!” that there probably shouldn’t be. We have differing opinions on abortion, gun control, the death penalty, flag burning, and gay rights, but agree categorically that such decisions ought not to be Constitutional issues and are best left to the local voters. We think that the Federal Government ought not to do much of anything other than core responsibilities, especially if they have no idea how to pay for it. We don’t vote with out hearts but with our heads. We are never loyal to any party. We are very pro-military, and most of us have served. We don’t trust any politician and we despise empty symbolism, ignorant populism, and idiotic sloganeering. We are all about practical economics, actual freedom from the leftist nannies and rightist religious police, and we like individual responsibility.

People like me have been going nuts for a long time with the economic stupidities of our government and fellow citizens, the general inability of these to understand real long term effects, and we are sick to death of people blaming US for George Bush instead of the RELIGIOUS and SOCIAL conservatives who elected him. We are NOT “neo-cons”, “dittoheads”, or lovers of Fox News, and we are sick and tired of lefties telling us we must be supporters of Limbaugh and Falwell. WE are the people who watch Penn & Teller’s BULLSHIT and love SOUTH PARK. We think Obama is a very nice fellow whose economic policies at best will lead America on a path in the long run to a low rent failed soft-core Socialism. Finally, we think that the 40% on either side that make up the core of the two major sides are usually reaching bad conclusions and voting stupidly because they listen to propaganda and don’t truly understand some complicated issues with an honest degree of depth.

Therefore, since there is no shortage of people here with an agenda (some of which borders on the insane), I am going to put out a collection of material that gives a good accounting of the fiscal conservative point of view. Some of it I personally take as gospel, some of it is merely generic. Speaking as a history and social studies teacher, I feel qualified to select materials that reflect this point of view. It is my hope that many will increase their knowledge of complicated historical and economic events by this effort. I do not seek to foster argument or win converts, but merely to explain to the right wingers why we would rather have freedom than ban abortion or marijuana, and to get it through to the left that not everyone who doesn’t toe their fantasy line is a flat-Earther or fascist. Most of this material will be conservative, and most will deal with economics. There will be no political diatribes from dogmatic and non-practical people (Sorry to all the Coulter and Chomsky fans) who are more intent on pushing a fantasy utopia than pursuing practical liberty.