A Course in Free Markets

This year I was asked to put together a class that does not shy away from the virtues of the free market.  This Summer I was speaking at Clemson University for the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and I showed my course outline to Larry Reed, the President of FEE.  After looking at it, he not only liked it, but asked if I could make the outline widely available.  And so here it is, my economics course that argues that Free Markets are a good and moral system that creates good character and expands societal wealth and living standards.  I hope you like it and if you have any comments, please feel free to do so.

Tentative Course Outline:     

WEEK #1     Read Part I: “Non-Contradiction” of Atlas Shrugged

     Morality of Markets

1.                “The Economic Foundations of Freedom,” by Ludwig von Mises, in Economic Freedom and Interventionism: An Anthology of Articles and Essays, 1990, pp. 3-10.  Found here: http://mises.org/efandi/ch1.asp

2.                “Liberty and Dignity Explain the Modern World,” by Deirdre N. McCloskey, in The Morality of Capitalism, 2011, pp. 27-30.  Found here: http://atlasnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/10/The-Morality-of-Capitalism-PDF.pdf

3.                “The Intellectual Defense of Liberty,” by Walter E. Williams, October 1, 2007.  Found here: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/the-intellectual-defense-of-liberty#axzz2Rt0sMHqQ

WEEK #2

4.                Honesty and Trust,” by Walter E. Williams, February 1, 2005. Found here: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/honesty-and-trust#axzz2Rt0sMHqQ

5.                “Competition and Cooperation,” by David Boaz, in The Morality of Capitalism, 2011, pp 31-36.  Found here: http://atlasnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/10/The-Morality-of-Capitalism-PDF.pdf

6.                “Ayn Rand and Capitalism: The Moral Revolution,” by David Kelley, in The Morality of Capitalism, 2011, pp. 69-.  Found here: http://atlasnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/10/The-Morality-of-Capitalism-PDF.pdf

7.                “The Elite Under Capitalism,” by Ludwig von Mises, in Economic Freedom and Interventionism: An Anthology of Articles and Essays, 1990, pp. 18-25.  Found here: http://mises.org/efandi/ch3.asp

8.                “The Market Economy and the Distribution of Wealth,” by Ludwig Lachmann, in The Morality of Capitalism, 2011, pp. 87-95.  Found here: http://atlasnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/10/The-Morality-of-Capitalism-PDF.pdf

LABOR DAY September 2nd -- NO CLASS

WEEK #3

     Counter-Factual Reasoning

9.                 “The Lesson,” by Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson, 1946, Ch 1 pp. 3-7.   Found here: http://library.mises.org/books/Henry%20Hazlitt/Economics%20in%20One%20Lesson.pdf

10.             “The Broken Window,” by Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson, 1946, Ch 2 pp. 11-12.   Found here: http://library.mises.org/books/Henry%20Hazlitt/Economics%20in%20One%20Lesson.pdf

11.             “The Candlemakers’ Petition,” by Frederic Bastiat, in Economic Sophisms, part 1, 1845.  Found here: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/the-candlemakers-petition#axzz2Rt0sMHqQ

12.             Bastiat “Something Else,” by Frederic Bastiat, in Economic Sophisms, part 2, 1848.  Found here: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/something-else#axzz2Rt0sMHqQ

WEEK #4

13.             “I, Pencil,” by Leonard Read, 1958. Found here: http://www.fee.org/library/books/i-pencil/

     Methodological Individualism

14.             “The Individual in Society,” by Ludwig von Mises, excerpted from Human Action, 1966. Found here: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/the-individual-in-society#axzz2Rt0sMHqQ

15.             “The Class Struggle,” by Ludwig von Mises, Theory and History, pp. 112-122.  Found here: http://mises.org/document/118/Theory-and-History

TEST #1  September 11^th

WEEK #5                   Movie: Atlas Shrugged Part I

WEEK #6     Read Part II: “Either-Or” of Atlas Shrugged
     The Individual and Society

16.             The Law, by Frederic Bastiat, 1950, pages 1-9, 17-21, 24-29 and 63-64.  Found here: http://www.fee.org/files/doclib/20121116_TheLaw.pdf

17.             “Economics and Property Rights,” by Walter E. Williams, January 1, 2008.  Found here: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/economics-and-property-rights#axzz2Rt0sMHqQ

18.             What Social Classes Owe to Each Other, William Graham Sumner, 1911, Chapters 1 & 2.  Found here: http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=346&Itemid=99999999

WEEK #7                  
     Law of Association / Comparative Advantage

19.             Not a Zero-Sum Game by Manuel Ayau, 2007, Part 1, pp. 23-50.  Found here: http://library.mises.org/books/Manuel%20F%20Ayau/Not%20a%20Zero-Sum%20Game%20The%20Paradox%20of%20Exchange.pdf

WEEK #8                  
     Direct and Indirect Exchange: Supply and Demand

20.             The Mystery of Banking, by Murray Rothbard, 2008, Chapter 2 and Chapter 1. (Yes, read them in reverse order.)  Found here: http://www.mises.org/document/614/Mystery-of-Banking-The

WEEK #9                   MID-TERM  October 14^th

     Profit & Loss

21.            “Profit Management,” by Ludwig von Mises, in Bureaucracy, 1962. Found here: http://www.mises.org/etexts/mises/bureaucracy/section1.asp

22.            “Bureaucratic Management,’ by Ludwig von Mises, in Bureaucracy, 1962. Found here: http://mises.org/etexts/mises/bureaucracy/section2.asp

WEEK #10

23.            “What Is Profit?” by Fred Foldvary, 2012.  Found here: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/what-is-profit#axzz2Rt0sMHqQ

     Effects of Markets

24.            “The Economic Role of Savings and Capital Goods,” by Ludwig von Mises, in Economic Freedom and Interventionism: An Anthology of Articles and Essays, 1990, pp. 26-30.  Found here: http://mises.org/efandi/ch4.asp

25.            “Luxuries into Necessities,” by Ludwig von Mises, in Economic Freedom and Interventionism: An Anthology of Articles and Essays, 1990, pp. 31-32.  Found here: http://mises.org/efandi/ch5.asp

26.            “Political and Economic Freedoms Together Spawn Humanity’s Miracles,” by Temba Nolutshungu, in The Morality of Capitalism, 2011, pp. 96-99.  Found here: http://atlasnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2011/10/The-Morality-of-Capitalism-PDF.pdf

     Critiques of the Welfare State

27.            “Middle-of-the-Road Policy Leads to Socialism,” by Ludwig von Mises, April 18, 1950.  Found here: http://mises.org/daily/2370

WEEK #11

28.            “Tragedy of the Welfare State,” by Tom G. Palmer, in After the Welfare State, 2012, pp. 5-14. Found here: http://studentsforliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/After-the-Welfare-State-PDF.pdf

WEEK #12                 TEST #2  November 4^th

WEEK #13                 Movie: Atlas Shrugged Part II

Read Part III: “A Is A” of Atlas Shrugged

29.            “The Welfare State as a Pyramid Scheme,” by Michael Tanner, in After the Welfare State, 2012, pp. 91-96. Found here: http://studentsforliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/After-the-Welfare-State-PDF.pdf

WEEK #14

30.            “The Evolution of Mutual Aid,” by David Green, in After the Welfare State, 2012, pp. 55-65. Found here: http://studentsforliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/After-the-Welfare-State-PDF.pdf

31.            “Mutual Aid for Social Welfare: The Case of American Fraternal Societies,” by David Beito, in After the Welfare State, 2012, pp. 67-88. Found here: http://studentsforliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/After-the-Welfare-State-PDF.pdf

 

WEEK #15                 (finish #31)

THANKSGIVING November 27^th – NO CLASS

WEEK #16

32.            “How the Right to ‘Affordable Housing’ Created the Bubble that Crashed the World Economy,” by Johan Norberg, in After the Welfare State, 2012, pp. 97-105. Found here: http://studentsforliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/After-the-Welfare-State-PDF.pdf 

33.            “Greece as a Precautionary Tale,” by Aristides Hatzis, in After the Welfare State, 2012, pp. 21-30. Found here: http://studentsforliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/After-the-Welfare-State-PDF.pdf