We call this course Economics as if God Cared. The United States has no formal established church, yet matters of religion keep popping in political campaigns. What has the Judeo-Christian-Muslim religious tradition to do with questions of political economy? One perspective is to ask how “God” advises us to organize our economic life. According to …
Continue reading “April 16 Monday: What has religion to do with political economy?”
Three sections of Progress & Poverty start this week. For the first time in decades, we’re offering the course in Brookfield, at the British Home ( 8700 W. 31st Street). Wednesday afternoon classes start at 2:00, comprising six sessions, April 11 thru May 16. This is the modern version of the course, using the “abridged …
Continue reading “Think deeper*: Spring term classes starting this week”
Take a break from preparing “your” income tax returns to attend this Power Point® presentation looking at the real cost of collecting the income tax. IRS overhead itself represents the direct cost to the government of generating this revenue. Beside that there is the burden put on the taxpayer in filling out his return, the …
Continue reading “April 12, Thursday, 6 PM: High Cost of Government Revenue”
Lord of the Flies is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding about a group of British boys stuck on a deserted island who try to govern themselves, with disastrous results. Its stances on the already-controversial subjects of human nature and individual welfare versus the common good earned it position 68 on the American …
Successful land speculation is really a matter of capturing for yourself the gains that belong to the community. George Menninger is one of many who have done it. Far beyond any need to earn a living, George now spends some of his time explaining how the bad public policy he exploited not only made him …
Right on the streets of every American community, robbery takes place every day. How can local, state, and national governments claim they need to tax our labor, when there is so much real value that the community creates but fails to collect? On this walk through central Chicago, we’ll see some of this value, understand …
Continue reading “March 31, Saturday, 1 PM: Invisible Robbery Tour”
The presentation “They’re Both Wrong,” scheduled for March 21, has been postponed indefinitely.
The American Ruling Class Lewis Lapham, editor of Harper’s Magazine, wrote this “cleverly contrived non-fiction film” (New York Press) that follows two fictional Yale grads around as they ask some of America’s cultural, political, and economic elite (Walter Cronkite, James Baker III, Robert Altman, Pete Seeger, Lawrence Summers, Kurt Vonnegut, Bill Bradley, Howard Zinn) to …
Continue reading “Sat. March 10, 2012 – 2 p.m. “The American Ruling Class””
For those wishing to learn the root cause of worsening poverty on an afternoon schedule, our final Winter term Progress & Poverty course starts this Monday, February 27. This is the modern version of the course, meeting for five consecutive Mondays thru March 26. Class starts at 2:30. As always, you’re welcome to attend the …
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Our Political Economy Book Club continues its discussion of Book I of Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations”. This session covers the second half of Book I (chapters 10 & 11). “The Wealth of Nations” is available for free download at http://www.gutenberg.org/. Feel free to participate even if you haven’t yet read the book and …
Continue reading “Feb. 22, 2012 – Political Economy Book Club continues with Wealth of Nations”
