Includes a giant stack of handouts for each week’s lecture.
Whatever the hottest and most complex economic issues are next fall, that’s what will be examined in this highly popular course. Some of the topics being considered are: Is increasing the minimum wage the best way to help the working poor? What are the implications for the U.S. economy of Janet Yellen’s dovish stance on inflation and interest rates? Is Thomas Piketty right: Is Capitalism fatally flawed with ever-increasing inequality built in? Is a period of “Secular Stagnation” inevitable? Is a lost generation forming in employment markets? Are there things that money can’t or shouldn’t buy (the Michael Sandel question)? Can public employee pension funds survive without major changes to contributions and/or benefits? Registration will be limited to 125. Warning: We hit the limit last term.