Economic Crisis? OMG!

Is the US economy currently in recession or is this a depression? What can we expect in the months and years to come - further decline, stagnation or a rebound? What can/should the Obama administration do to deal with the immediate situation? What can/should it do to minimize the chances of future crises?

We will construct a conceptual framework that will help us to understand economic crises, generally, and the current economic decline, specifically. We will study the Great Depression of the 1930s to see if the experiences of those times, and the economic policies that were implemented then, have lessons for us today. Our studies will include introductions to macroeconomics, economic policy, economic indicators and 20^th century economic history.

Students who enroll in this program must be prepared to read about current economic and business conditions on a daily basis in several different publications, both electronic and print-based. They should expect to become well informed about the economy and political developments. They should be prepared to draw conclusions and defend those conclusions in vigorous discussions with their classmates.