Beyond Economics

For class handouts and links to videos shown in class, see MCC Classes section.

GDP

• What is GDP?

Unemployment

• Economy Track (Economic Policy Institute)
• BLS: Unemployment FAQ / Technical FAQ / Technical Notes
• BLS: Household Data Summary / Table A-15 (Alternative Unemployment Rates)
• Household Survey Questions
• Employment by Sector (Government vs. Private)
• BLS Employment Projections 2010-2020 (2/2/2012)

Inflation

• BLS: Inflation FAQ / Cleveland Fed: Inflation Info
• GDP Implicit Price Deflator
• Cost-Push Inflation
• Gas and Oil Prices (zFacts)
• Gas Prices & Inflation (Texas premium fill-ups)
• The Dollar Bubble (interesting, anti-Fed, falling dollar bias)

U.S. Budget Deficits and the National Debt

• US National Debt Visualized in Piles by Millions, Billions, & Trillions
• NYT: National Deficits and Growth Compared as % of GDP
• Federal Budget Deficit Calculator (NYT)
• I.O.U.S.A. Trailer /30 Minute / Full Version / Solutions (3/2010)
• FRONTLINE: Ten Trillion and Counting
• U.S. Budget, Debt, & Liabilities Clocks
• U.S. National Debt (Public vs. Gross)
• Population Demographics by Age: 1950-2050
• Jobs at GE plant in Lynn, MA: Alternative Engine / Tax Break
• Showdown in Wisconsin (Daily Show): Teacher Salaries

Taxation

• Comparative Total Tax Burdens for OECD Countries
• Comparative Total Tax Burdens and Incomes for the 50 U.S. States / Table
• Comprehensive List of All U.S. Federal Tax Rates
• Comparative Corporate Tax Rates: U.S. vs. OECD / CBO Analysis (more objective)
• Marginal Income Tax Rates & GDP (Eliot Spitzer)
• CEO and Hedge Fund Manger Compensation
• Teachers Salaries (Daily Show)
• MA Lottery Distribution
• CBS Video on Income Taxes (9 min)

Money, the Fed and Monetary Policy

• The Ascent of Money (4-part PBS video by Niall Ferguson)
• Bernanke on 60 Minutes – December 2010
• Bernanke Speech on The Fed’s Balance Sheet (4/2009) / Update – 10/2009
• What is QE (Steve Liesman – CNBC, 10/29)
• Expansion of Fed’s Balance Sheet (Cleveland Fed)
• The Velocity of Money

Government & Politics

• PBS News Hour: Darwin Economics – Interview with Robert Frank (11/18/11)
• Daily Show: Super Committee Deadlock (11/16/11)
• David Stockman vs. Robert Reich on GPS (6/20/2011)
• Reich vs. Norquist on CNBC-Kudlow (11/18/11)
• Thomas Friedman vs Bill O’Reilly
• I.O.U.S.A. (30 minute version) / Trailer
  The unsustainable long-term trend for the nation’s finances (2007)

• AIG Executives before Congress (10/08)
• Hedge Fund Managers before Congress (02/09)
• History of U.S. Government Bailouts
  Timeline with visual graphics comparing relative sizes
• U.S. Auto Industry Bailout – Congressional Oversight Panel
  Detailed report with summary flowcharts on pages 62 & 65 (PDF) (9/9/09)

Globalization

• IBM Think Forum: Thomas Friedman – Hyperconnected World
  Meet the Press: Thomas Friedman sums up why America is in a hole
• The Corporation (trailer)
• Blood in the Mobile (trailer)  (Introduction) – mining in the Congo for cell phone components
• CNBC: Made in China: The People’s Republic of Profit
• CNBC: India Rising: The New Empire
• FRONTLINE: Is Wal-Mart Good for America? (2005)
• The Story of Stuff: Electronics
• CNBC: TRASH INC. – The Secret Life of Garbage (2010 – 45 minutes)
  On Hulu at higher resolution but with ads

Tragedy of the Commons

• The Corporation – Externalities
• Capitalist View (Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• Libertarian View
• Public vs Private Property (from The Corporation)

Misc. Economic Reports

• High-Tech Manufacturing (Tom Brokaw)

Health Care

• Population Demographics by Age: 1950-2050
• Hoveround Scooter Ad / AARP Ad: 50 Million
• FRONTLINE: Sick Around the World – Five Capitalist Democracies & How They Do It
• FRONTLINE: Obama’s Deal (behind the scenes politics of health care reform)
• HowStuffWorks: Health Insurance

.

ECO 150 – Microeconomics

Industries

• CNBC: Inside American Airlines
• CNBC: Supermarkets Inc.
• CNBC: The New Age of Wal-Mart
• CNBC: Debate about AT&T/T-Mobile Merger

Internet

• CNBC: Inside the Mind of Google
• CNBC: Facebook Obsession

Tragedy of the Commons

• The Corporation – Externalities
• Capitalist View (Competitive Enterprise Institute)
• Libertarian View
• Public vs Private Property (from The Corporation)

Foreign Policy

• Unrest in the Middle East

Think Tanks

• The Brookings Institution
  Progressive, independent
• Cato Institute
  Libertarian
• Ludwig von Mises Institute
  Austrian School of Economics

Books

• The Tyranny of Oil
  The World’s Most Powerful Industry–and What We Must Do to Stop It – Antonia Juhasz (2008)
• Oil on the Brain
  Petroleum’s Long, Strange Trip to Your Tank – Lisa Margonelli (2007)
• The End of Oil
  On the Edge of a Perilous New World – Paul Roberts (2005)