A lecture on basic economics by Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse

Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, former professor of economics at Yale University and George Mason University, gave a lecture on basic economics.

The MP3 file is here.

Topics:

• The study of economics is anti-postmodern – there is objective truth independent of what people think
• The study of economics believes in fixed principles of human nature
• Economics studies the allocation of scarce resources that have alternative uses
• Economics studies how people exchange resources
• How both people who engage in a voluntary trade always believe that they will be better off
• How both people who engage in a voluntary trade both benefit from the exchange
• How incentives motivate people to act
• Understanding supply and demand
• Understanding how “free” government services are rationed
• Understanding opportunity costs
• How prices signal producers to produce more or less, and consumers to buy or not buy
• Market-driven prices versus price controls
• The role of substitution
• The necessity of allowing failure in a free market

The requirements of economic growth:

• private property
• contracts
• the profit motive
• competition
• free trade
• entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation
• the rule of law

If you like this podcast, you can take a look at Thomas Sowell’s textbook on “Basic Economics“. Highly recommended!

Filed under: Podcasts, Acton Institute, Adam Smith, Alternative Uses, Basic Economics, Economics, Economics Tutorial, Free Trade, Hayek, Jennifer Roback Morse, Learn Economics, Mises, Scarce Resources, Scarcity, The Wealth of Nations, Trade, Voluntary, Von Mises, Wealth of Nations

Drew rants against libertarians, and I agree with him this time

Last time, you may remember, I disagreed with Drew about what was wrong with the church, and Rebekah made a post illustrating our fearful struggle and recommended that we be reconciled. And so we were, because who can resist Rebekah’s will? But this time, there will not be a titanic struggle because I agree with Drew completely on this issue, and his post is worth reading.

His post is here on Pursuing Holiness.

Excerpt:

I worked at the local juvenile DA’s office this summer, and a sizeable portion of the defendant-children came from broken homes. These children usually consumed tax dollars by accepting public defenders or other appointed counsel. Paid lawyers were atypical. Just sitting in court, you could easily recognize that broken homes contributed not just to these wasted tax dollars (and court time), but to the crimes themselves.

This same trend almost certainly holds true in adult court as well, but juveniles bring their parents with them to court, so the pattern in juvenile court is more obvious.

Private immorality leads to gross public immorality, and ultimately to socialism. Most people (including myself) support the court appointment of criminal lawyers because the government must have a check on its power when it hauls people into court. But unfortunately, the public subsidies soon extend far beyond appointed lawyers.

There’s a lot more to this post, I gave you a short snip. Read the whole thing.

Basically, breakdowns in families and society are caused by left-wing social policy, and bigger government is needed to clean up the resulting mess. Bigger government means less liberty – exactly what the libertarians were trying to avoid. Life is more complicated than their purely economic vision. And I don’t think F.A. Hayek and Thomas Sowell would approve of this.

Drew’s viewpoint was echoed in the podcast on family and marriage that I posted recently by Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse.

Filed under: Commentary, Broken Home, Communism, Costs, Family, Fascism, Fiscal Conservative, Fiscal Conservativism, Freedom, Government, Hayek, Immorality, Jennifer Roback Morse, Juveniles, Libertarian, Libertarianism, Liberty, Marriage, Parents, Social Conservatism, Social Conservative, Social Programs, Socialism, Tax, Taxes, Von Mises

MUST-LISTEN: Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse explains basic economics!

Wow, I thought that her earlier podcast on marriage and family was good.

This new podcast is a MUST for social-conservatives who nevertheless like big government, taxing the rich, public schools, and single-payer health care. I listened to this twice already, and it’s going to become one of my favorites for sure!

The MP3 file is here.

Topics:

• The study of economics is anti-postmodern – there is objective truth independent of what people think
• The study of economics believes in fixed principles of human nature
• Economics studies the allocation of scarce resources that have alternative uses
• Economics studies how people exchange resources
• How both people who engage in a voluntary trade always believe that they will be better off
• How both people who engage in a voluntary trade both benefit from the exchange
• How incentives motivate people to act
• Understanding supply and demand
• Understanding how “free” government services are rationed
• Understanding opportunity costs
• How prices signal producers to produce more or less, and consumers to buy or not buy
• Market-driven prices versus price controls
• The role of substitution
• The necessity of allowing failure in a free market

The requirements of economic growth:

• private property
• contracts
• the profit motive
• competition
• free trade
• entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation
• the rule of law

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST. REPEAT.

The Ruth Institute accepts donations. I sent her TWO already this year. She does on-campus events, just like William Lane Craig. If you want to have an impact on the university, she should be considered for funding.

You can find more economics lectures at the Acton Institute.

Filed under: Podcasts, Acton Institute, Adam Smith, Alternative Uses, Basic Economics, Economics, Economics Tutorial, Free Trade, Hayek, Jennifer Roback Morse, Learn Economics, Mises, Scarce Resources, Scarcity, The Wealth of Nations, Trade, Voluntary, Von Mises, Wealth of Nations