Paper #1

Due at beginning of class on Thursday, Feb. 14

Write a two page, double-spaced paper (approximately 500 words) that is a reflection on the following statements. Your essay should reflect an understanding of the readings, use the terms and concepts developed by the two economists and make some effort to explain their ideas in the context of the times within which they lived. Usual caveat: In all your papers, it is expected that you use the texts as the sources of your understanding and as references in the body of these short papers. When citing sources use this method: (author page), for example (Sackrey 36). That’s all you need.

Adam Smith’s theories of how a market society worked largely foresaw a smooth-running system that would lead to great abundance and benefits to all. Karl Marx, on the contrary, viewed the capitalist market system as plagued with crises and ultimately doomed.

Paper #2

Due at beginning of class, Thursday, Feb. 28

Note: In all your papers, it is expected that you use the texts as the sources of your understanding and as references in the body of these short papers. When citing sources use this method: (author page), for example (Sackrey 36). That’s all you need.

We have discussed numerous themes in our discussion of the various economic ideas presented by the authors. In this next paper, please respond and comment on the following:

The Set-Up:

Briefly, discuss the significance of the “roaring twenties” and the “Great Depression” in the aftermath of Smith’s powerful thesis of a Newtonian-like harmonic market system and Marx’s critique of Capitalism as prone to class conflict and ultimate crisis. This should be about a paragraph long.

The Finale:

In the context of the précis that you provide in 1 above, finish your paper with a discussion of the importance of Veblen’s theory of the leisure class (ch. 4) and the discussion of class in chapter six of Sackrey and Schneider. When incorporating chapter six's analysis of contemporary class issues consider our exercise "Capitalism among Consenting Adults". Specifically, how was consumption and production decided in Smith's worldview and how has it changed in light of Veblen's ideas and the general role class plays today in determining who gets what?

Paper #3

Due at beginning of class, Monday April 7th

Write a two page, double-spaced paper (approximately 500 words) that is a reflection on the following statements.

Galbraith argued for a renewed commitment to the public sector (Sackrey ch. 7). Folbre claims that in a society that operates on the belief that a free market always allocates resources most efficiently will be shortchanged on the services of caregiving. Baron and Sweezy proposed that surplus absorption would be an ever escalating problem for big business (Sackrey 204-211).

Relying on the texts, write a paper that comments on the proposition that a capitalist market system efficiently provides us with commodities and services that we want and need at reasonable prices. All of these authors provide useful source material to incorporate in such an essay. Specifically, these authors' ideas over-lap respecting the question of what is a collective or public good and the degree to which a free enterprise system can provide goods which are traditionally unpriced and whether the tendency towards over-production dooms the system in the long-run.

Paper #4 Due at beginning of class on Monday, April 21st

Usual caveat: In all your papers, it is expected that you use the texts as the sources of your understanding and as references in the body of these short papers. When citing sources use this method: (author page), for example (Sackrey 36). That’s all you need.

Write a 500-word, two page paper on the following:

There is a concept known as consumer sovereignty. It's discussed by several of our authors. Its basic premise is that production takes place to satisfy consumer wants, i.e., that is its purpose.

Using the texts as references and your own experiences, discuss the truthfulness of this idea. What changes in our market economy have occurred that would have had an effect on the usefulness of this concept in describing the contemporary market economy?

Lastly, connect the changes in the applicability of the notion of consumer sovereignty to today's world with other changes that seem to be parallel phenomena. In other words, what other changes seemed to have been caused by the same set of forces that have affected the relevance of consumer sovereignty as descriptive of market society. [Here, you may go far a-field, but I believe you can find much in the texts to support any number of contemporary phenomena that seem to have been brought about by the same things that have affected consumer sovereignty as a useful concept]

Paper #5 Due at beginning of class on Monday, May 5th

Write a 500-word, two page paper on the following:

Economists of the Chicago School often argued that the corporate raiders of the 1980s and 1990s were simply a form of competition that would assure the stockholder the firm would be run by the best management team. The same argument is also used by those who advocate school vouchers. Parents would use the vouchers to force schools to become more competitive, thereby eliminating schools that performed poorly.

Use any of the texts we have read in the class to comment on the parallels between these two applications of the model of competitive markets and draw some conclusions based on your own experience and/or actual events described in major newspaper articles -- N.Y. Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Newsday, L.A. Times, Philadelphia Inquirer or Boston Globe.