Saturday 14 August 2010

Economics in One Lesson: Wars, Governments, Price Controls and the Boom-Bust Cycle

Based on the Henry Hazlitt book, this presentation is an introduction to applied economics. Hazlitt’s lesson, to consider what is unseen as well as what is seen, is applied to various situations: broken windows, wars and governments.

The market process for allocating resources is introduced, and the effects of price controls, such as the minimum wage law, on resource allocation is examined.

Finally, the One Lesson and the theory of price controls is applied to the phenomenon of the boom-bust cycle, which is explained as a necessary consequence of government manipulation of interest rates.

This presentation was first delivered in June 2010.  No previous knowledge of economics is assumed.

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