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Economics is the study of how people allocate their limited resources to satisfy their unlimited wants. The ultimate purpose of economics is to understand the choices we make. Macroeconomics is the part of economic analysis that studies the behavior of the economy as a whole. It deals with economy-wide phenomena such as changes in unemployment, the general price level and national income. Microeconomics is the part of economic analysis that studies decision making undertaken by individuals (or households) and by firms. Our topics this semester are divided into six parts. Those topics are listed below and can be found on the pages linked above.
Need Help with Your Course? Try These Resources!Time Magazine’s The Economy's New Rules: Go Glocal (August 20, 2012)
Until quite recently, globalization was seen as a one-way street. American companies, which led the charge four decades or so ago into growing global markets, were its ambassadors, and American workers, whose wages and upward mobility were flattened, were the victims. The core idea was that globalization, technological innovation and unfettered free trade would erase historical and geographic boundaries, making the world ever more economically interconnected and alike. (Foreign-affairs writer Tom Friedman famously encapsulated this notion with the title of his book The World Is Flat.) In this vision, all nations would be on an even playing field, and the US would come under more and more competitive pressure from eager upstart nations. It worked something like that from the mid-1980s to 2008, a period of unprecedented market calm that economists call the Great Moderation. Not so much anymore. The truth is that the world was never as flat as we thought, and it's getting bumpier. The flaws in the premise are coming into focus. Consider the following: when energy prices and political risk go up, far-flung global supply chains make less economic sense. Low-wage workers in China look attractive -- until robots operated by highly skilled laborers at home are able to do their jobs even more cheaply. Unfettered free trade seems great until the world's fastest-growing economies won't play by the rules of the game. Read the rest… Retail Prices vs Cost of Personal Services (02:42) Costs and Benefits of Government Regulations (04:52) Supply Side Market Price (03:55) Introduction to Macroeconomics and Microeconomics (MP3 audio download, 35 min)
Adam Smith: The Invisible Hand (online video, 42 min): mislabeled as video on Mill so ignore label Introduction to Economics (online course, varying lengths)
The Strategic Importance of Global Trade (transcript)
Check out the 6 minute video from You Tube titled Did You Know: Shift Happens – Globalization and The Information Age. It’s a little out-of-date but still fairly accurate. I think you’ll be quite surprised by most of the statistics. Just for the fun of it, check out Yoram Bauman’s 5-minute You Tube video, Principles of Economics Translated. It’s a hoot! You might also enjoy Every Breath Bernanke Takes, Columbia Business School’s Spring 2006 Follies spoof on The Police's Every Breath You Take featuring Dean Glenn Hubbard and aimed at former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. For a completely different (and conspiracy-theory-oriented) take on the Fed, watch the following.
CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf held a news conference on the projected economic outlook and budget deficit for fiscal year 2012 at 2012 Economic Outlook (74 min). Just for fun: Personal Finance Worksheets
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Globalization
used to be a one-way street that led away from America. Now high energy prices,
political risk and technological shifts are bringing opportunity back home. Welcome
to the era of localnomics.
