Hopefully
some of the economic thinking we did yesterday will pay off for you
somewhere along the line. We'll try to do a little more of that as the
opportunities arise. Today, we'll look at the comparative economic
systems a bit more closely.
Debating Economic Systems -
If you have strong feelings about one of more of the economic systems
we have discussed, here's your chance to share them. To make things
more interesting, you're going to be ASSIGNED at random to a particular
side. You'll receive a slip with a statement on it. You and the others
with the same slips will have ten minutes of preparation time and then
three minutes to present "your" side. After that, the rest of us can
weigh in with our comments. Here are the six "sides" you might receive.
(Page 737 is a good starting place for most of you.)
Before we hear each pair of arguments, we'll make sure we've got the basic ideas of each of these down.
Capitalism
Capitalism is the most effective economic system.
Capitalism is a flawed economic system.
Socialism
Socialism is the most effective economic system.
Socialism is a flawed economic system
Marxism (Communism)
Marxism is the ideal economic system.
Marxism is a flawed economic system.
WWED? - "What Would the Economist Do?"
Here's where history meets current events.
You're going to select one of these economists:
- Adam Smith
- David Ricardo
- Thomas Malthus
- Charles Fourier
- Karl Mark
Now, bring that person to the present. You're going to have "them" write a blog comment that you will post to this lesson. All comments should be posted before the start of class time on Friday. Have
your economist comment upon/ analyze/ make recommendations for one of
the current economic issues facing either the United States or the
world. Obviously, what you write should be consistent with what your
economist might say about the issue were they alive today.
Figure
a minimum of one good paragraph. Be sure it is clear both which
economist you are writing as and what the issue is that they are
writing about. (Of course, be sure I also know who is really posting
the blog comment so that you can get credit.)
By
the way, I debated whether or not to use the WWED phrasing since WWJD
("What would Jesus do?") was originally a term used by Christian
groups. My thought is that it has become enough of a pop culture
expression ("What would ____ do?") that there is no offense here. Doing
a little research (cough, Wikipedia), I discovered there's a term for
that: snowclone. That's a cliche that "can be used in an entirely open array of different variants by lazy ... writers." Hey, that's me.
HOMEWORK for tomorrow - Thursday, December 17th
Please read Chapter 26, Section 4, "Nineteenth-Century Progress." (pp. 762 - 767) We're back to fill in the blank.
Your WWED? blog comment is due to be posted to THIS blog entry before the start of class Friday.
We
will be holding our 1889 Paris World Exposition (or "Fair" if you
prefer) on Thursday. You'll each have a short presentation
ready for that.
Your Cartoons:
Industrialization and Imperialism assignments are due on Friday, January 8th. Instructions for that are found back on Lesson #24.
everyone needs to cool it. this is capitalism and it has it's up's and down's. we are just going over a speed bump it's no big deal.the economy will turn around and the housing market is already turning around. we are voting on a social health and it's not going through there is nothing to worry about.
-Adam Smith
Matt Chambers commenting as Karl Marx on the Economic Recession...
As I have stated on numerous occasions, oppression, by the means of capitalistic policies, is nothing to be proud of. At one point or another, the bubble of economy is going to burst in any capitalistic society, such as that of the US and the poor will rise up and take the lead. To be frank, it was inevitable and your ignorance of its existence has cost you trillions of dollars. Your economic downturn was your fault and you fault only: don't push the blame onto any one person. Although Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac took the heat this time, you may not get so lucky next time. The slime-ball government that you are, you'll probably ignore me, but you just wait... watch and learn America...
Laurel Winsor
Adam Smith- So i am happy to say that i agree with some aspects of the United states way of living. But there are something that i do not agree with. The law of self interest that people work for their own good. The law of competition, the competition forces people to work harder. And the law of supply and demand, that enough good would be produced and the lowest possible price to meet demand in a market economy. Also that the government should not interfere with the economy. And in the united states they do so i think that should stop, but most of the thing the Unites Startes are doing i do agree with !
As Adam Smith:
I believe that the current economy in the U.S. is suffering because there is less of an incentive for companies and people to do well because they know that the government will still bail them out. I think it is absolutely insane that the government is subsidizing agriculture, and bailing out car manufacturing companies and banking. The government should not be involved at all in the economy because then the whole nation is in trouble. This causes the government to be 13 trillion dollars in debt while it should really be the companies that must make up this money. I do not understand why the government believes that it has to help the economy out because it will only go more and more into debt because the economy will never be independent of the government after such a LARGE helping hand, or at least it won't be for a very long time. Also, taxes on the working class should not be so high because this diminishes incentive for working hard and does not allow for higher amounts of competition and supply and demand. Because companies are taxed so much, they can not reach their full potential, helping the economy overall.
Lauren Arsenault
What Would Karl Marx Do?
An issue that I saw in the New York Times recently was about a conference going on in Indianapolis, about adding women to baseball. Baseball was, and continues to be only for men, until recently. Many people have talked about adding women to the sport. Karl Marx, if he was alive, would have supported this. Marxism (communism) is all about inclusion and equality. Karl Marx thought everyone should be equal, and everything belonged to everybody. There were no social classes, and no private ownership of anything. Having a sport played only by men, Marx would've thought was horrible. If men had a certain sport, women should have one too. Again, everyone is equal, he believed. There are communists today who share Marxs' ideas. For example, the women who are started to petition for their own baseball league. I am sure in the future we will be seeing many more of Marxs' ideas put to use.
Karl Marx on the topic of "Health Care in the U.S".
Personally, I think that Obama is right in thinking that everyone should have health care. (which is interesting coming from me.) I believe that each individual should have equal access to health care no matter what race, class, or situation they are in. In fact, I would like to see that people get the same amount of everything, food, water, clothes, money etc...but that's a different story. With everyone getting health care, the U.S might see some huge changes in human behavior as well. With everyone getting health care, the people of the United States could potentially all be healthier that if they didn't get the needed health care. What would the U.S be like if everyone could have health care? Plus, it's one step closer to creating a more equal country. (which this country, and this world struggles with.) The only condition I do not agree with Obama is the taxing. I think that all peoples should pay taxes towards this bill, that way it is fair. Those who cannot afford the health care bill, could get an extension of time, and then pay later at a desired "due date". I hope President Obama and his committee find an end to this on going debate, for I am tired of back and forth bickering.
-posted by susie
Hello, I am Adam Smith. I am writing about the current recession in the United States of America. I believe that it is a lot more secure if businesses keep there industry domestic, in this case the USA. It would also provide a lot more jobs for Americans. I also believe that there is an invisible hand guiding the free market. As such, it would be a lot better if the government did not assist the economy, as then capital would naturally flow to the most productive hands.
Justin S
Adam Smith -- Hello my fellow humans! I just wanted express my opinion on the current economy of the United States of America. I mostly agree with everything that is going on and I strongly believe we are off to a good start. But I must also say that I think there is still room for more improvement. Such as the government should not be so controlling with the enconomy and I also think that there should be a lot more people with jobs. Thank you!
Adam Smith
Economy
I believe that the government has no right to step into the economy, by doing so it puts us even farther in debt. The bailouts are not the responsibility of the government or the people who pay taxes which fund the government. Also if we are so far in debt why help something that already seems to be falling? Rather than investing money that we do not have in a company that seems very unlikely to come back and succeed and pay the money back. Use the money to pay back some of the debt and to try and raise the dollar. America is thinking about the right now rather than the later and the effects this could toll on our country our name and our economy in the long run. That we are taking steps to re-boost the economy is good, its just the ways of doing them are not. These ideas need to be thought of carefully and at least given an opinion by the people.
My fellow americans, i stand here today to tell you my opinions on the current economic situation. in the recent past it seems we had hit rock bottom but now we have nothing to fear. everything is getting much better and it seems the recession is close to an end. but the government did not help the situation by offering bailouts to car companies and banks. the debt of our country is already over 13 trillion dollars in debt. the government did not help this by offering bailout money to these companies. instead they should have used that money to try and reverse the debt of the country and set things right.
Adam Smith- The Californians are facing a dire crisis of not bringing in enough money to keep their internal economy going. They must find a new way of bringing in more money, one way they could go about this is possibly lowering the amounts of money they spend for celebrities to have their awards shows,maybe even find more effective ways to prevent forest fires so not as many resources every year need to be tasked to it. In the end though it is the Californians extravagant spending that has sunk them into this hole