Economics 4970
Spring 2005

Readings

A. General

F. Hayek. "The Use of Knowledge in Society"
American Economic Review Vol. 35 (Sept. 1945). (PDF File)
Everything you need to know about Economics in nine pages. Well, Almost

David Webber on Wal Mart (MS Word Document)
MU Political Science Professor explains why Wal-Mart is bad for you? Do you agree?

"Postrel on Free Trade, NYT, 1/27/05" (MS Word Document)
Free Trade Really Works. An Example.

"Roberts on Flu Vaccine, Cafe Hayek" (MS Word Document)
Economist Russ Roberts deconstructs a Washington Post article on purported "causes" of the flu vaccine shortage.

B. Social Security

Gary Becker. "A Political Case for Social Security Reform." WSJ Feb. 15, 2005 (MS Word Document)
Nobel Laureate Economist makes a "political economy" argument for Individual Savings Accounts.

Charles Krauthammer. "2042?" (MS Word Document)
Op. Ed Columnist notes that President Bush goofed in the SOU speech. The problems start in 2018.

Expanding Individual Choice and Control (Chapter 5 from Economic Report of the President) (PDF File)
Nice economic argument for property rights, with an application to ISA's.

Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs
A SUMMARY OF THE 2005 ANNUAL REPORTS
Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees
Succinct statement of the financial condition of the OASDI and HI funds. A nice reminder that the real time bomb is HI.

How Today’s Social Security Works (PDF File)
DAVID C. JOHN
Heritage Foundation.
Very nice explanation of how SS works. A good explanation of how benefits are determined.

Estelle James. "Social Security Reform Around the World: Lessons from Other Countries"
(PDF File)
An economist examines the experience of 20 countries that have partially or totally privatized their social security systems. Very interesting.

Deven Herrick. "Health Savings Accounts: The Future of Health Care for Kansans" Flint HIlls Center for Public Policy. (External Website)

Andrew J. Rettenmaier and Thomas R. Saving. "Reforming Medicare." National Center for Policy Analysis. (PDF File)

Greg Scandlen. "MSA's Can Be a Windfall for All." National Center for Policy Analysis (External Website)

C. Education

Derek Neal. "The Effect of Catholic Secondary Education on Educational Achievement." Journal of Labor Economics (1997) (PDF File)

Caroline Hoxby. "Does Competition Among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?" American Economic Review (2000) (PDF File)