Contemporary Economic Issues [TTC Audio]
English | 2004 | 23 hrs and 45 mins | MP3 | 653 MB
Contemporary Economic Issues
Course Number 570 48 lectures (30 minutes/lecture)
Taught by: Professor Timothy Taylor Macalester College
"Economics was definitely NOT my field. But Professor Taylor is so good, so lucid, so focused, so cheerful, that he has captured my interest."
Cecile Farhen, The Bronx, NY
"This is an excellent course, easy to understand and perfect to listen to while driving."
Uwe D. Soenksen, Fletcher, NC
"Dow Plunges, With More Volatility Expected Amid Investor Worries"... "Fed Nudges Interest Rates Up to Calm Global Markets"...
"Congress Weighs Relief on Medicare Cuts"...
"Brazil, IMF Discuss Loan Package"...
You run across stories like these in the media every day as you try to keep track of the economic issues that profoundly affect you as an investor, a worker, or a taxpaying citizen.
You know you can t afford not to be informed on these questions, but just keeping up with the news is a struggle, and the jargon that journalists and experts sometimes use can perplex even the brightest layperson.
Wouldn t it be wonderful to have a stock of knowledge and analytical tools that you could apply to what you read and see, getting to the vital essence of economic debate and reportage with the swift comprehension that you need?
Professor Timothy Taylor s course on Contemporary Economic Issues can give you that knowledge and analytical acumen. Whether it s the shifting stock market, changes in the tax code, the size and shape of the post-Cold War "peace dividend," or vigorously contested subjects like health-care reform, immigration, foreign aid, deregulation, international-trade policy, and welfare programs, Professor Taylor offers clear and balanced explanations of what economics can teach you.
Grasp the Issues That Shape
Your World
Clearly, economics is a huge force in your life, but you won t need any special background to get the most out of this course. With Professor Taylor s knack for clearly communicating ideas and skillfully choosing examples, you ll learn to go "behind the headlines" with a deeper and more systematic understanding built on the knowledge you ll gain.
But what if you do have some formal training in economics and some considered views on the issues discussed? You may find that these lectures confirm and reinforce some of your opinions, while challenging you to rethink others. Then too, you may find yourself arriving at informed opinions on new subjects, while on still others you may conclude that suspending judgment is the wisest course, but even then you ll be in a better position to evaluate fresh evidence or arguments.
Whatever you conclude about the subjects that Professor Taylor explores, you can rest assured that your opinion will be the product of fresh thought fueled by this engaging and superbly taught lecture series. Look through the lecture descriptions and see if your interest isn t piqued. If you save and invest, work at a job or profession, and pay taxes, it certainly should be. Contemporary Economic Issues offers a wealth of important information that you won t find so readily available anywhere else. It s a superb investment for anyone who wants to be better informed.
Professor Taylor taught previously at Stanford, where his lecturing ability earned him the student association s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He also serves as managing editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, a leading review of new scholarship and ideas in his field. Customers who have purchased Economics, another Great Course that Professor Taylor has done for The Teaching Company, describe him as "fantastic," "informative and thoroughly enjoyable," and "most enlightening!"
Contemporary Economic Issues offers you an opportunity to discover what these customers were so excited about, and permanently takes the mystery out of a discipline whose insights and arguments stretch far beyond the classroom to crucially affect your life and future.
"This course is for everyone who wants to understand the headlines and make informed decisions about political promises concerning the economy."
Elaine Covington
Yorktown, VA
"My commute is made pleasant by your tapes. Tim Taylor is the best lecturer I ve ever experienced. I have all four of his courses and look forward to buying more."
Steve Penhall,
Cortez, CO
"Very organized, clear and concise with just the right touch of humor. Taylor presents the material in a way that makes it relevant and understandable I really enjoyed his style of lecturing."
Kathryn Simpson,
Portland, OR
Available on Audio CD and Audiotape
This course is available on audio CD and audiotape only.
Part I
Lecture 1: Economizing, the Economy, Economics, and Economic Policy
Lecture 2: America s Competition Policy Antitrust and Mergers
Lecture 3: The Great Deregulation Experiment Airlines and More
Lecture 4: Frontiers of Deregulation Telephones and Electricity
Lecture 5: Financing the Health Care Industry
Lecture 6: Competitiveness in Banks and Savings and Loans
Lecture 7: Re-Inventing Regulation
Lecture 8: Issues in Environmental Regulation
Lecture 9: Privatization Steering, not Rowing
Lecture 10: Medicine for Unemployment What Works, What Doesn t
Lecture 11: Are America s Jobs Decreasing in Quality?
Lecture 12: The Growing Inequality of Wages
Part II
Lecture 13: The Rise and Fall (and Rise?) of American Unions
Lecture 14: Discrimination Against Women and Minorities in the Labor Market
Lecture 15: Taking the Economics out of Immigration
Lecture 16: Welfare Reform
Lecture 17: Raising Wages for the Working Poor Minimum Wages, Wage Subsidies, and Job Training
Lecture 18: The Race for Global Economic Leadership
Lecture 19: Can We Increase U.S. Savings and Investment?
Lecture 20: Reform of K-12 Education
Lecture 21: The Delicacies of Investing in Infrastructure
Lecture 22: Technology, Research and Development
Lecture 23: Is the Stock Market Headed for a Crash?
Lecture 24: The Supply-Side Economics Movement
Part III
Lecture 25: Sectoral Evolution Farming, Manufacturing, Services, the Information Age?
Lecture 26: Federal Budgets Deficit, Balance, or Surplus
Lecture 27: The Shaky Foundations of Social Security
Lecture 28: Defense Spending and the Uncertainties of the "Peace Dividend"
Lecture 29: The Government in Health Care Medicare and Medicaid
Lecture 30: The American Tax Burden in Perspective
Lecture 31: Flat and Flatter Taxes
Lecture 32: Inflation Why the Measure Matters
Lecture 33: The Federal Reserve and Inflation Fighting
Lecture 34: Economic Interpretations of Federalism What Should States Do?
Lecture 35: Foreign Trade What s Really at Issue?
Lecture 36: Free Trade vs. Labor and Environmental Standards
Part IV
Lecture 37: The Trade Deficit What Are the Real Issues?
Lecture 38: Can Anything Be Done About International Financial Crashes?
Lecture 39: A Single European Currency
Lecture 40: The Economics of European Union
Lecture 41: From Communism to a State of Transition in Russia and Eastern Europe
Lecture 42: Has Japan s Economic Miracle Come and Gone?
Lecture 43: Lessons from the East Asian (Rumpled) Tigers
Lecture 44: China s Economic Surge
Lecture 45: India
Lecture 46: Market Economics Comes to Latin America
Lecture 47: Africa s Plight
Lecture 48: What Economists Know, and Don t Know, About Economic Policy
