Philosophy
If you thought the Open University's 60 Second Adventures in Thought were over, think again! Yes, they may be done with paradoxes and strange thought puzzles (for now), but there's plenty of other fascinating things to explore, and they have decided to devote some attention to the field of economics.
Of course, no introduction to economics would be complete without Adam Smith's concept of the "invisible hand," that self-directed mechanism through which markets regulate themselves for the collective benefit of both consumers and producers.
Oddly enough, at least here in America, many of those people who deny the self-directed and amoral process of evolution through natural selection are perfectly comfortable with the equally blind and amoral self-directed market, and some, such as objectivists, actually argue that a completely free, unregulated market is the ultimate expression of a moral society. Oh yeah, we've got it all...
And if you need a refresher on modern economics, you might want to check out the Hayek vs. Keynes rap.
- The Metaphysics Of Money
Been thinking about money. Sciences describe the behavior of observable systems. In physics, there are empirical terms that are directly measurable, things like mass and distance. We know that these things are real as far as we can know that anything...
- Beyond Freakonomics: Musings On The Economics Of Everyday Life
For most of its history, economics has been an esoteric discipline concerned with abstract concepts and trends about which only highly-trained experts could (or wanted to) discuss. But then in 2003, Stephen Dubner, from the New York Times, published a...
- Shit Happens - The Economics Version
If you're anything like me, your memory sucks, big time. So how do you manage to remember events, definitions, dates, names, concepts and so on? Well, one possible method is to employ the use of mnemonics or heuristic devices designed to create associations...
- The Story Of Cap & Trade
Here in the United States, a large percentage of our population seems to be increasingly obsessed with the 'invisible hand' of capitalism and the 'wisdom' of the free market. Interestingly, many of these folks are also the very same people...
- The Hayek Vs. Keynes Rap: Fear The Boom And Bust
Before we get into the complexity of two of the most influential schools of economic thought of the previous century, you might want to take a look at this hilarious explanation of the basic principles of economics first (if nothing else, it's worth...
Philosophy
60 Seconds Adventures in Economics - The Invisible Hand
Of course, no introduction to economics would be complete without Adam Smith's concept of the "invisible hand," that self-directed mechanism through which markets regulate themselves for the collective benefit of both consumers and producers.
Oddly enough, at least here in America, many of those people who deny the self-directed and amoral process of evolution through natural selection are perfectly comfortable with the equally blind and amoral self-directed market, and some, such as objectivists, actually argue that a completely free, unregulated market is the ultimate expression of a moral society. Oh yeah, we've got it all...
And if you need a refresher on modern economics, you might want to check out the Hayek vs. Keynes rap.
- The Metaphysics Of Money
Been thinking about money. Sciences describe the behavior of observable systems. In physics, there are empirical terms that are directly measurable, things like mass and distance. We know that these things are real as far as we can know that anything...
- Beyond Freakonomics: Musings On The Economics Of Everyday Life
For most of its history, economics has been an esoteric discipline concerned with abstract concepts and trends about which only highly-trained experts could (or wanted to) discuss. But then in 2003, Stephen Dubner, from the New York Times, published a...
- Shit Happens - The Economics Version
If you're anything like me, your memory sucks, big time. So how do you manage to remember events, definitions, dates, names, concepts and so on? Well, one possible method is to employ the use of mnemonics or heuristic devices designed to create associations...
- The Story Of Cap & Trade
Here in the United States, a large percentage of our population seems to be increasingly obsessed with the 'invisible hand' of capitalism and the 'wisdom' of the free market. Interestingly, many of these folks are also the very same people...
- The Hayek Vs. Keynes Rap: Fear The Boom And Bust
Before we get into the complexity of two of the most influential schools of economic thought of the previous century, you might want to take a look at this hilarious explanation of the basic principles of economics first (if nothing else, it's worth...