In My Inbox: Public Economic Argument
6/21/09 9:57 AM
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In My Inbox: Public Economic Argument A corresopondent writes: Dear Professor DeLong: This fall I am teaching a section of the required freshman writing course at Malefactor of Great Wealth University, a course that emphasizes the analysis of argument and other related rhetorical skills, as well as instruction and practice in academic writing. All sections are organized around a single issue, and I have chosen to focus on public argument on the economy leading up to and following the events of late 2008. http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2009/06/in-my-inbox-public-economic-argument.html
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In My Inbox: Public Economic Argument
6/21/09 9:57 AM
the economy leading up to and following the events of late 2008. I have been enjoying your blog and the fine array of links. My main question for you is this: can you recommend any good, short primers that can provide my students with enough economic literacy to be able to follow the public arguments made by, say, Alan Greenspan or Paul Krugman? I would also be curious to know your answer to the following: What would you as an economist say to a member of the public who did not have an extensive economic education but nevertheless was trying to decide, say, what public economic policies to support? Is it a matter of picking the right experts to trust? Thanks very much for your time and consideration! Candidate for MA in Rhetoric and Freshman Writing Instructor Malefactor of Great Wealth University Sunny City, USA My answer: Oyyyy... The problem is that everything I can think of takes a side (the fact that I think one side is clearly right is not of much help for your purposes)... I can think of three things to do: 1. Set them to read, as preliminary background, one nineteenth-century book, Walter Bagehot's Lombard Street, and one early twentieth century book, John Maynard Keynes's Tract on Monetary Reform. There is a possibility of some confusion: when people today say "Keynesian" they mean late Keynes, and the Tract is early Keynes. But if that is made clear, it should work well: those two lay out pretty much all the issues and do so in a historical context divorced from today... 2. Set them to read, as preliminary background, the paperback macroeconomics half of Krugman and Wells's introductory economics textbook... 3. Set them to read, as preliminary background, the macroeconomics half of Cowen and Tabarrok's forthcoming introductory economics textbook... As to your second question, all I can say is that I am trying as hard as I can in lots of different forums, with as best as I can see no success... Better suggestions, guys? Yours, Brad DeLong RECOMMENDED (5.0) by 2 people like you [How? ] You might like:
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In My Inbox: Public Economic Argument
6/21/09 9:57 AM
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Comments Not a solution, but just for starters Harper Collins puts out pretty nice dictionaries of... I have found the Dictionary of Sociology to be pretty useful. I see that they have A Dictionary of Economics but I have not ever read it. The 'definitions' are actually short articles that cover the some basics. For $20 its probably a good resource even if some deeper stuff is still required. Posted by: Michael Carroll | June 21, 2009 at 07:30 AM It is not technical reading, but perhaps the bible story of the seven fat years and the seven lean years would be pertinent. :) And, of course, the relevant chapters from a book that, IMO, should be required reading for all freshmen, "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" :) Posted by: Min | June 21, 2009 at 08:52 AM I would go for a rhetorician! Kenneth Burke's "Attitudes toward History" would be a good start, supplemented with his 1930 New Republic satire, "Waste - The Future of Prosperity" and his 1956 Nation retrospective on that article and on a recent Business Week feature, "Recipe for Prosperity: Borrow, Buy, Waste, Want." The book discusses economic ideas in terms of their rhetorical strategies. The reason I suggest those articles is because of the insight (from the book) that "...the total economy of this planet cannot be guided by an efficient rationale of exploitation alone, but that the exploiting part must itself eventually suffer if it too greatly disturbs the balance of the whole..." something that conventional economics either ignores, denies or considers an 'externality'. Oh, and I just happened to have recently written about the Burke article: http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2009/06/borrow-spend-buy-waste-want-file.html http://econospeak.blogspot.com/2009/06/borrow-spend-buy-waste-want-file-part.html Posted by: Sandwichman | June 21, 2009 at 09:39 AM
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In My Inbox: Public Economic Argument
Paul Krugman Mark Thoma Cowen and Tabarrok Chinn and Hamilton
6/21/09 9:57 AM
Ezra Klein Matthew Yglesias Spencer Ackerman Dana Goldstein
Philosophers: Hilzoy and Friends Crooked Timber of Humanity Mark Kleiman and Friends Eric Rauchway and Friends
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