tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post2541066502990234215..comments2024-03-24T09:36:51.494-04:00Comments on delagar: Educating The Kiddelagarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18197857250240640822noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-10898222520175305002014-06-08T21:27:29.000-04:002014-06-08T21:27:29.000-04:00Heh, I should have known this post would bring you...Heh, I should have known this post would bring you out, N&M!<br /><br />The kid's book is actually pretty good on economics, as it turns out. Though it is pro-Capitalism, it's also doing a good job of discussing the problems of the system, and why it needs regulating, and why unions are useful. It covered the problems with Right-to-Work, for instance, quite well.<br /><br />delagarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18197857250240640822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-27163013932792861982014-06-08T17:13:56.182-04:002014-06-08T17:13:56.182-04:00"What do economics have to do with being an A..."What do economics have to do with being an American citizen?"<br /><br />aieee aieee aieee aieee! Economics has to do with being a human person! And everything else under the sun. <br /><br />Though I bet whatever is in her civics class isn't really economics.<br /><br />Also the reason someone wouldn't want to be in a union is because they can free-ride on a union if everybody else is paying for the union (they still benefit from collective bargaining etc.). That's why states that don't allow unions to force everybody protected by the union to pay union dues have almost no unions (the "at-will" states). It isn't that unions are illegal there, it's that it's illegal to force people to be in unions, so even though everybody may want to be in a union (compare average salaries for teachers or nurses in union states vs. non-union states) nobody wants to be the only person paying for it. <br /><br />re: Bardiac's point, I didn't actually learn about why the IMF and world bank did what they did until TAing undergraduate macro economics in college! But in undergrad I had friends getting arrested for protesting them. Many government policies that some subset of people disagree with are difficult and it's hard to say what the best solution really is, even if we agree on what the problem is. (And on top of that, there's politics involved that drive economists batty when we do have a solution that most economists believe to be the right one.)<br /><br />p.s. Capitalism is only the best system ever in Econ 101. Once you get into public finance, you learn that there's a role for government intervention (so yes, some socialism!). However, communism doesn't work (at least not in large groups) because it really goes against human nature.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8340684.post-45336028384517256452014-06-08T16:06:25.301-04:002014-06-08T16:06:25.301-04:00When I was in the Peace Corps, I read local newspa...When I was in the Peace Corps, I read local newspapers talking about the IMF, World Bank, and such, and always wondered why they had the policies they did. When I went back to school, I took a year of econ, and it was GREAT because it helped me understand what those organizations THOUGHT they were doing, at least. (Even though things don't necessarily work, of course.) It's a fascinating subject, and I hope your kid begins to find it interesting.Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.com