MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_01C8F18A.A24CC460" This document is a Single File Web Page, also known as a Web Archive file. If you are seeing this message, your browser or editor doesn't support Web Archive files. Please download a browser that supports Web Archive, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. ------=_NextPart_01C8F18A.A24CC460 Content-Location: file:///C:/4F794CD3/ReadingListandTopcs.htm Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii" 108 readings

 <= /p>

Books for Course

 <= /p>

Required Book: Econom= ics: Private and Public Choice, 12th edition, by Gwartney, Stroup, So= bel and Macpherson. (GSSM)

 

Recommended Books

The Undercover Economist, by Tim Harford (bookstore has copies)

Ec= onomic Harmonies, by Frederic Bastiat (available online for free)

Ec= onomic Sophisms, by Frederic Bastiat (available online for free)=

 

Comments

  • Required reading is indicated with a l . You are strongly encouraged to do them. In some c= ases the readings mirror what we will be covering in class (e.g. the textbo= ok material on supply and demand), but in a majority of cases the readings are meant to complement what we are doing in class. This is intended to give you multiple types of exposure to the material, and to help you t= hink critically about what we discuss in class.
  • In each section I have added a list of supplemental readings. While these are not required, reading them will add a great = deal of richness to your learning experience, and help me do a bit better justice to the topics than we can cover in such limited class time.
  • Particularly motivated students who take advantage of these extra readings have fared very well in this course in past terms; please see me if you are interested in reading more about any topic. S= pace considerations do not permit me to list all of the readings I would li= ke to introduce you to.
  • I did my best to introduce you to the major thinkers= in economics over the past quarter-millennium – those scholars that have most influenced the profession. Many an economics student (even P= hD students) will go an entire career without reading any of these origin= al works, but yet will reference them repeatedly, and form opinions on th= em nonetheless. Some names may not be familiar to you, but their inclusion should indicate their importance, given the high opportunity cost involved.
  • This is still only a preliminary list. The topics and readings are subject to change. I will also be adding a series of short articles to the list and on the website as the semester progresses.
  • Any readings that I add to this list will NOT be required. The indicated required readings below will not be subject to change.

 

Section I: The Eco= nomic Way of Thinking

 <= /p>

  1. Introduction
    1. What is Economics?=
    2. Scarcity
    3. Social cooperation, pla= nning and spontaneous order
    4. The market system; anti-market sentiments; biases (and what gives rise to them)

 

Readings

  • l GSSM Ch1. pp. 1-8, 15-1= 8
  • l Bastiat, Frederic. 1845. “Abundance and Scarcity,” Economic Sophisms, Chapter 1. Available online.=
  • Read, Leonard E. 1958. “I, Pencil,” The Freeman, December 1958. Available online.
  • Undercover Economist, Chapter 1
  • Marshall, Alfred. 1890 (8th edition 1920). Principles of Economics. London: MacMi= llan & Co., pp. 1-2, 31-33, 36.
  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1845. “Obstacle and Cause,” Economic Sophisms, Chapter 2.= Available online.=
  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1850. “Natural and Artificial Social Order,” in = Economic Harmonies. Available online.
  • Klein, Dan. 2006. “Rinkonomics: A Window on Spontaneous Order,” <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Liberty Fund Feature, May 2006. = Available online.
  • O’Rourke, P.J. 1998. “P.J.s Economics 101,” from a speech delivered = at the Independent Institute on October 29, 1998. Available online.= Based on his book, Eat the Rich.=

 

  1. Economic Evolution: Today’s Economy in Historical Perspective

 

Readings

&= middot;      =    l GSSM Ch7, p. 164

&= middot;      =    l GSSM Ch15, pp. 331-336

&= middot;      =    l Lucas, Robert. 2003. “The Industrial Revolution: Past and Future,” The Region,= Annual Report of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota. Available online.

&= middot;      =    Undercover Economist, Chapter 10

&= middot;      =    Cox, Michael and Richard Alm. 2008. “How Are We Doing? = The American. July-August 2008. Available online.

&= middot;      =    Braudel, Fernand. 1981. The Structures of Everyday Life.  

&= middot;      =    Caplow, Theodore, Louis Hicks and Ben J. Wattenberg. 2000. The First Measured Century: An Illustr= ated Guide to Trends in A= merica 1900-2000. Available online.

&= middot;      =    Landsburg, Steven. 2007. Chapter 2 in More Sex is Safer Sex.

&= middot;      =    Fogel, Robert. 2004. = The Escape from Hunger and Premature Death.

&= middot;      =    Simon, Julian. 1995. = The State of Humanity= .

&= middot;      =    l Ebeling, Richard. 2004. “Free Markets, the Rule= of Law, and Classical Liberalism.” The Freeman. = Available online.

&= middot;      =    l Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels. 1848. The Manifesto of the Communist Party. Read the Preface, Section I (Bourgeois and Proletarians) and the last 5 paragraphs of the book. Available online.

&= middot;      =    Hayek, F.A. 1944. The= Road to Serfdom, Chicago: University of Chica= go Press, pp. 34-38, 41-42. “Individualism and Collectivism.” Here= is one take on it. Here is = another way to put it. I do= not think this chapter is available online.

&= middot;      =    Schumpeter, Joseph. 1942 (3rd edition: 1950). Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. = New York: Harper Torchbooks, Harper and Row Publishers, pp. 132-34, 141-42, 150-51, 417-418.= Not online, but here is a summary.

&= middot;      =    Friedman, Milton= . 1962. “The Relation between Political Freedom and Economic Freedom,” in Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago: University of Chica= go Press, Chapter 1, pp. 7-10.

&= middot;      =    l Lerner, Abba. 1963. “Review of Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman.” American Economic Review, Vol. 63,= No. 3, pp. 458-60. Available online.

&= middot;      =    Mill, John Stuart. 1869 (1878 edition). The Subjection of Women. London: Longman’s Reader and Dyer, pp. 1-2, 86-93, 192-194. Available online.

&= middot;      =    Toynbee, Arnold. 1884. Lectures on the Industrial Revolution in England: Popular Addresses, Notes and other Fragments. London: Rivingtons, pp. 85-93. <= span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:blue'>Available online. Scroll down to Section VIII: The Chief Features of the Industrial Revolutio= n.

&= middot;      =    Berle, Adolph. 1963. = The American Economic Republic. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc. pp. 3-7. “The American Political-Economic System.”

Video: The Industrial Revolution

 

  1. Economics as a Science: Modeling, Theories and Policies

 <= /p>

Readings

&= middot;      =    l GSSM Ch1. pp. 14-15

&= middot;      =    Bastiat, Frederic. 1845. “Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc,” in Economic Sophisms, Second Series, Chapter 8. Available o= nline.  =

&= middot;      =    l Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1931. “Morality and Sh= am Reasoning,” The Collected Pap= ers Vol. I: Principles of Philosophy. Available online.

Ethics Exercise #1 Does Science Need Ethics= ?

 

  1. Basic Economic Principles
    1. Tradeoffs
    2. Oppor= tunity costs
    3. Thinking at the margin<= o:p>
    4. Sunk costs (class exper= iment)
    5. Incentives
    6. Pie fallacy (why econom= ics is boring)
    7. Market organization
    8. Market “failure&#= 8221;
    9. Standards of living
    10. Inflation

 

Readings

  • l GSSM Ch1. pp. 8-14=
  • Stigler, George. 1984. “An Academic Episode,” in The Intellectual and the Marketplace. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Chapter 1, = pp. 3-9. (unintended consequences)
  • l Bastiat, Frederic. 1845. “Effort and Result,” in Economic Sophisms, First Series, Chapter 3. A= vailable online. 
  • You might wish to watch: The Family Man, the whole movie, but particularly the scene where Nicholas Cage tries to convince Tea Leoni to relocate to NYC.

 

  1. Ethical Foundations of Commercial Society
    1. The golden rule
    2. Selfishness and self-in= terest
    3. Soft-values, business responsibility, profits and love
    4. Trust, faith or confide= nce?

 

Readings

  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1850. “Man’s Wants,”= ; Economic Harmonies, Chapter 3= . Available = online.
  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1850. “Wants, Efforts, Satisfactions,” Economic= Harmonies, Chapter 4. = Available = online.
  • Butler, Eamonn. 2= 007. “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” Chapter 4 in Adam Smith: A Primer. Institu= te for Economic Affairs. Available on= line.
  • Smith, Adam. 1759. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Available onli= ne.
  • Jeremy Bentham, Defence of Usury (London: T. Payne and Son, 1787), 2.
  • Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, trans. by Fathers of the English Dominican Province (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1947), II, ii, q. 77, art. 1.
  • Rebecca M. Blank and William McGurn, Is the Market Moral? A Dialogue on Religi= on, Economics & Justice (= Washington DC: Brookings Institut= ion Press, 2004), 84
  • l Appiah, Kwame Anthony. 2006. “= The Case for Contamination,” New York Times Magazine, January 1, = 2006. Available online.
  • Heyne, Paul. 1998. “Mor= al Misunderstanding and the Justification of Markets,” The = Region, Federal Reserve Bank of <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Minneapolis, Vol. 12, No. 4, Decem= ber 1998. Available online.
  • l Aristotle. (350 BC). Nicomachean Ethics. Book V. <= /span>Availa= ble online.
  • Hirshleifer, Jack. 1959. “Capitalist Ethics – Tough or Soft?” Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 2, (Oct. 1959), pp. 114-119. Avai= lable online.
  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1845. “Two Systems of Ethics,” in Economic Sophisms, Second Ser= ies, Chapter 2. A= vailable online. 
  • l Bastiat, Frederic. 1850. “Conclusion to Part I,” in Economic Harmonies. Available online.

Ethics Exercise #2 What is the Difference Between Self-interest and Greed?

 

Ethics Exercise #10 What is Economic Justic= e?

 

 

  1. Scarcity, Choice, Specialization and Exchange=
    1. Basic economic question= s
    2. Tradeoffs
    3. Wealth
    4. Trade and exchange=
    5. Production possibilitie= s
    6. Diminishing returns
    7. Comparative advantage
    8. International trade
    9. Trade statistics and fr= ee trade

 

Readings

  • l GSSM Ch2, pp. 28-33, 38= -46, 50-51
  • l GSSM Ch17, pp. 371-378<= o:p>
  • l GSSM Ch12, pp. 263-265 (money)
  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1850. “Exchange,” Economic Harmonies, Chapter 4= . Available = online.
  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1850. “On Value,” Economic Harmonies, Chapter 5= . Available = online.
  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1850. “On Wealth,” Economic Harmonies, Chapter 6= . Available = online.
  • Undercover Economist, Chapter 9.
  • l Smith, Adam. 1776 (6th edition: 1791). “Book I, Chapter II: Of the Principle which gives Occasion to the Division of Labour,” in An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations= . London: A Strahan. Available online.
  • Lerner, Abba. 1949. “The Myth of the Parasitic Middleman.” Commentary, July 1949, pp. 45= -46, 49-50.
  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1845. Economic Sophisms, First Series Chapter 4 through 23, but particularly Chap= ter 6, 7 (Candlemakers’ Petition) and 17. Series 2, Chapter 16. Available online.=
  • l Munger, Michael. 2007. “The Division of Labor,” Econ= Talk. Podcast April 2, 2007. = Available online.
  • Boudreaux, Donald. 2007. “The Economics of Buy Loc= al,” EconTalk Podcast. April 16= , 2007. Available online.
  • You might wish to watch: Babe, the scene where Ferdinand the Duck devises a pla= n to avoid being slaughtered by taking over rooster’s crowing respons= ibilities.

Ethics Exercise #6 What Should We Do About Sweatshops?

            =             <= o:p>

  1. Property Rights, Institutions, and Economic Freedo= m
    1. Transactions costs and = the market
    2. Middlemen
    3. Competing political eco= nomy models
    4. Origins of American (we= stern) system of property rights
    5. Economic freedom

 

Readings

&= middot;      =    l GSSM Ch2, pp. 33-38, 46-48

&= middot;      =    l GSSM Ch15, p. 336-343

&= middot;      =    l GSSM Ch16 (including appendix) – we will only briefly cover this chapter in class, but it is important to read nonetheles= s

&= middot;      =    l Mill, John Stuart. 1848. “Of Property,” i= n Principles of Political Economy, with = some of their Applications to Social Philosophy, Book II, Chapter I. London: Longmans, Green & Co., pp. 208-209. Available online – Private Property Has Not Received a Fair Trial (last 3 paragraphs of § 3).

·      =    l Alchian, Armen A. “Property Rights,” The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.= Available o= nline.

·         l Todd, Wa= lker. 2002. “Property Rights: Origins and Theories,” Economic Education Bulletin, May 2002. American Institute for Economic Research: Great Barri= ngton, MA. Avail= able online.

 

·         Murphy, Liam and Thomas Nagel. 2002. The Myth of Ownership: Taxes and Justice, New York: Oxford= Univ. Press. This is reviewed in “The Philosopher Kings,” AIER Research Reports, vol. 69, no. 9 (May 13, 2002) by Walker = Todd (available online).

 

·      =    Bastiat, Frederic. 1850. “Private Property and Common Wealth,” Economic Harmonies, Chapter 8. Available onlin= e.

·      =    Bastiat, Frederic. 1850. “Landed Property,” Economic Harmonies, Chapter 9. Available onlin= e.

Video: Commanding Heights, Episode One: The Battle of Ideas

 

Section II: Analytical Tools of the Economist=

 

  1. Supply and Demand
    1. Double oral auction experiment
    2. Perfect competition simplification
    3. Demand
    4. Demand elasticity<= /o:p>
    5. Need or wants?
    6. Supply
    7. Oppor= tunity costs
    8. Supply elasticity<= /o:p>

 

Readings

  • l GSSM Ch3, pp. 55-70
  • l GSSM Ch19
  • l Radford, R.A. 1945. “The Economic Organization of a P.O.W. Camp.” Economica, XII, No. 48, New S= eries, pp. 189-201. Ava= ilable online.=
  • Veblen, Thorstein. 1899. The Theory of= the Leisure Class. New Y= ork: The Viking Press, Inc., pp. 36-37, 70, 71, 230-32. Available online.=
  • l Galbreath, John Kenneth. 1952. The Affluent Society. Boston: Houg= hton Mifflin, pp. 126-131.
  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1845. “High Prices and Low Prices,” in Economic Sophisms, Second Ser= ies, Chapter 5. A= vailable online. 
  • Bastiat, Frederic. 1850. “Competition,” Economic Harmonies, Chapter 1= 0. Available = online.

Ethics Exercise #4 Do Markets Make Us More Moral?

 

  1. Equilibrium and the Price System=
    1. Methods of rationing
    2. The Market
    3. Coordinating role of mo= ney prices
    4. Moving toward equilibri= um
    5. Changes to market condi= tions
    6. The urge to fix prices<= o:p>
    7. Can you eliminate compe= tition?
    8. The success of planned economies

 

Readings

&= middot;      =    l GSSM Ch3, pp. 70-79

&= middot;      =    l Smith, Adam. 1776 (6th edition: 1791). “Book IV, Chapter II: Of Restraints upon the Importation from foreign Countries of such Goods as can be produced at Home,” in An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes = of the Wealth of Nations. London<= /st1:place>: A Strahan. Available online – particularly paragraphs 8 and 9. (Invisible Han= d)

&= middot;      =    lRizzo, Michael. “Riffing on Gas Price Complaints,” on The Unb= roken Window blog, August 8, 2005.

Ethics Exercise #5 What are the Moral Limit= s of Markets?

  1. Supply and Demand Applications
    1. Rent Control=
    2. Economics of Illegal Dr= ugs
    3. Tax Incidence
    4. Additional applications: professional sports, poetry readings, gold mines, delis, international trade and more

 

Readings

&= middot;      =    l GSSM Ch4

&= middot;      =    l GSSM Ch17, pp. 378-383, 386-390

&= middot;      =    Undercover Economist, Chapter 3.

&= middot;      =    de Jouvenel, Bertrand. 1948. “No Vacancies,” in The Reader’s Digest Condensation= . Irvington-on-Hudosn, New York: The Foundation for Economic Education, pp. 33-46. mimeo (I will try to upload, but the scan is huge – 11MB)=

&= middot;      =    Hayek, Friedrich. 1945. "The Use of Knowledge in Society", Library of Economics and Liberty Edition: American Economic Review, XXXV, No. 4; pp. 519-30. Available online.

&= middot;      =    l No Red Roses for Saudi Valentines. Available = online.

&= middot;      =    l The Great X-Box Shortage of 2005. Available online.

&= middot;      =    l Ethanol Boom Fuels Brisk Sales of Midwest Farmland. Available online.

&= middot;      =    Jabloner, Amy. 1997. “Homebrewing During Prohibition,” Brew Your Own, = December 1997. Available online.

&= middot;      =    Bastiat, Frederic. 1845. “The Tax Collector,” in = Economic Sophisms, Second Series, Chapter 10. Availa= ble online.  =

Ethics Exercise #7 Should We Allow a Market for Transplant Organs?

 

  1. Evaluation of Market Mechanism
    1. Consumer and producer s= urplus
    2. Welfare
    3. Interlude (possible): rationality, mistakes, evolutionary psychology and behavioral economi= cs

 

Readings

  • l GSSM Ch5, pp. 107-110 a= nd reread Ch3, pp. 57-59, 66
  • Undercover Economist Chapter 8
  • Undercover Economist Chapter 9
  • l Senior, Nassau. 1836. “Value of the = Forces of Supply and Demand,” in An Outline of the Science of Political Economy. New York: Augustus N. Kelly, pp. = 13-17.  Scroll down here to the section on value. (Perfect Competition).
  • Hayek, F.A. 1936. “Economics and Knowledge,” Economica, IV (new series, 1937), pp. 33-54. Ava= ilable online.=
  • Marshall, Alfred. 1890. “Competition,” in Principles of Economics. London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., pp. 4-8.
  • Knight, Frank. 1933. “The Price System and the Economic Process,” = in The