***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[rexanglorum]

Every summer, I try to think of ways to teach my incoming Econ 101 students.

I’m torn between two goals.

One goal is my mandate to teach intro micro Econ. That’s something that one needs to know in order to be taken seriously by a lot of decision makers out there in the world.

Ha-Joon Chang explains it very well…



I hit them with this clip during the first class.


I also try to tell them that Intro economics is not a hard science, nor is it a business course. It’s a social science class which has become a sort of universal language among not just academics but also the language of business and politics. I council them to not take passing my course as some deep, proprietary knowledge of how the entire world economy functions. Instead, it lets you fruitfully read and observe debates about the world economy.

As much as Econ, even just one intro micro class, can unlock doors of communication and access to things you didn’t have access to before, avoid this guys’ fate…

(I show them a clip of Stringer Bell getting shot in his yet unfinished tower and point out that this man had taken sone Econ classes but it didn’t make him bullet proof)

…technically it’s not a spoiler because I don’t even say which show it’s from. A few get it and those few tend to tell their classmates to watch the show.


I hope my warnings get headed but if not, the kids have a lot of years to figure out how little a perfect model micro model can predict.

 

[Nike Jordan]

 

[essential1]

Every summer, I try to think of ways to teach my incoming Econ 101 students.

"While Economic Theory is based on logically situations, and if all decision making were to be made from the optimal logical choice, then you would have a pretty straight forward topic..... Unfortunately, people, governments and corporations are inherently dumb and illogical in the face of life threatening necessity of logic, and therefore we all suffer."

*Now if you look at this graph*

 

[Public Enemy]

The Michigan Marching band pic going around (marching band spelling out "vote"), it's from 2018

 

[essential1]

Watched the first 15 minutes of the 20 v 1.

SMH. I guess maybe it'll get a little bit better when Trump leaves. Maybe.

But I think we've been irrevocably damaged by brain rot.

 

[Dark Brandon]

The Michigan Marching band pic going around (marching band spelling out "vote"), it's from 2018

6 years later still relevant

 

[rexanglorum]

"While Economic Theory is based on logically situations, and if all decision making were to be made from the optimal logical choice, then you would have a pretty straight forward topic..... Unfortunately, people, governments and corporations are inherently dumb and illogical in the face of life threatening necessity of logic, and therefore we all suffer."

*Now if you look at this graph*

No homo(economicus)

Seriously though, I’m always trying to match the energy and enthusiasm of some of my best intro micro professors, but add in the epistemological humility of my favorite undergrad professors in political science, History, and religious philosophy.

Thankfully my classes are fairly small, even for intro classes, so I have the luxury of surveying the kids about things like: where they get their news from, what streamers they watch, what podcasts they listen to, what they want to use this class for, plans after graduation, etc. I also include a few questions about various conspiracy theories, ranging from flat Earth to already proven theories like the CIA assisting the drug trade into the US in the 1980’s.

I’m not looking to assess anyone’s willingness or ability to reject or accept various theories.

Knowing the kid’s epistemological profile before they meet me in my office, is extremely helpful. I can tailor what I’ll say based partially on it.


Ultimately, these young adults will figure out their own course, but if I can give them the economics spark, without driving then insane, maybe I can produce better citizens.

We shall see, it’s still early.