October 28 Class

We went back over the idea of Needs and Wants and we focused on the role of price, supply, and demand.

We read and discussed three articles from the Foundation for Economic Education: Competition, Profit: Not Just a Motive, and The "I Hate the Poor" Act of 2009...

Very good articles and very good discussions.

21 October Class

Our main topic of discussion today was "Profit": What is profit? Is it bad or good or neutral?

Sales - Expenses = Profit or Expenses - Sales = Loss.
The possible profit is the incentive for an entrepreneur to contribute money to a business.

We read and discussed "People Before Profits" from the November 2003 Ideas on Liberty (at www.fee.org); and the importance of PRICES in determining the actions of businesses.

We ended by taking a survey from www.fte.org on "Identifying Needs". The survey was followed by animated discussion on whether transportation, education, etc are needs or wants....

14 October Class

We discussed very briefly the vote yesterday in the Senate Finance Committee on the Baucus Health Care bill. It goes now to the Senate floor for discussion there.

Most of the class we spent discussing several handouts from the Foundation for Teaching Economics: An Economic Reasoning Quiz, "Incentives Unlock the Mysteries of Human Behavior", and Economic Reasoning Principles.

We discussed tradeoffs, economic choices, consequences of choices, incentives, prices, voluntary trade, markets, and individual freedoms.

Class on Oct 7?

Yes, we will be doing Economics on October 7, during "Fall Break" (We'll be taking the entire month of November off for Wednesday classes, so I figure we need to get them all in in October!)

Universal Health Care -- an Economic View of It

I’ve had a little more time to digest the talk we went to last night, where they were trying to explain to us how important it is to give everyone universal health care, and how cheap it would actually be.

My response can really all be summed up in a short Economics lesson: Everything we purchase has to be considered a scarcity. No matter how much of it there is, there is still a limited amount of it. (Do we have consensus on that?) In a system that is working, scarcities are taken care of with one tool – prices!

And yet, under the Universal Health Care System being pushed under the Conyers bill for example (H.R. 676) – prices are taken out of the economic equation. When price is no longer allowed to regulate demand, demand ALWAYS exceeds supply. There are no exceptions.

So the bottom line with universal health care is shortages, and shortages will lead to rationing. Doesn’t matter what they say!

30 September Class

We discussed whether the Olympics should be in Chicago in 2016; and the Post Office losing money and still paying workers to do nothing (thanks to Union Rules)

We spent most of the class discussing Health Care Reform:
Medicare/Medicaid (i.e. the govt) pays the least for services;
Insurance companies pay the middle amount;
Uninsured individuals pay the most.

What reforms could we consider without increasing the size/cost of Govt:
Mandating that individuals pay the same as insurance companies, not more
Allow insurance companies to compete across state lines
Give tax breaks to individuals buying insurance (not just employers)

Mixed feelings on this requirement:
Requiring companies to cover Pre-Existing Conditions.

Class -- September 23

We mostly discussed the role of Price in driving Demand;
"price gouging" during times of peril, and the co-importance of Price, Demand, and Supply.

We looked at various government interferences with the above, including rent ceilings, minimum wage, and Cash for Clunkers.

We also discussed "unintended consequences" when the Government intervenes. We should ask: (1) Is this the proper role of government? (2) Can we afford it?