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