Frank Roosevelt

Why is capitalism expanding around the world? How should we respond to the pressures of globalization? Why does the pace of change, in our everyday lives as well as in the economy, seem to be accelerating? What causes an economy to grow or to slide into a recession? Why is the distribution of income and wealth becoming more unequal, both within and among nations? In particular, why does the gap between the average compensation of the top 100 American CEOs and the average US production worker's wage continue to expand? Are we living in a "new economy" and, if we are, how is it different from the old one? What explains the proliferation of business mergers and acquisitions -- especially those involving media conglomerates -- and what, if anything, can be done to stop large firms from increasing their domination of our markets? How can we, as citizens, gain greater access to diverse sources of information and opinion when fewer and fewer corporations own and control more and more of our media outlets? This course will present the theoretical concepts and factual information a person needs in order to understand and participate in today's economic policy debates. We will trace the historical evolution of capitalism and examine various theories offered in the past to explain its workings, focusing in particular on the ideas of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. Contemporary economic concepts will be explained using two competing but complementary textbooks -- a mainstream one, Economics for Dummies by Sean Masaki Flynn (its title notwithstanding, this is a rigorous, high-quality book), and radical one, Understanding Capitalism by Bowles, Edwards, and Roosevelt. Throughout the course we will apply theoretical concepts to contemporary developments in the economy, and students will be encouraged to focus their conference work on current issues. Documentary films will be screened, and daily reading of either The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal will be essential.