"We shall not cease from
exploration.
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
- T. S. Elliott
Students must be immersed
in "the economic way of thinking" in order for it to become a routine
part of their lives. So that is what we do in the economics curriculum
at Klein Oak.
Our guiding light comes
from John Maynard Keynes, perhaps the most influential 20th century
economist, who said
"The theory of economics
does not furnish a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to
policy. It is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind,
a technique of thinking which helps its possessor to draw correct
conclusions."
Students who are
successful in this class will not think the same way again, about
anything. They will view the world in terms of the fundamental fact of
scarcity. That means that mom and dad can't afford to buy you that new
350Z and to send you to college, and you don't have enough time for
practice, friends, and school. Something has to give.
The economic way of
thinking is all about realizing that something has to give, and then
rationally analyzing what it is that should give.
We will apply economic
thinking in several areas (e.g. opportunity cost analysis, demand,
supply, market equilibria, macroeconomic stabilization, etc.).
Additionally, we will study some financial topics that, while involving
"the economy" don't truly fall within the ambit of economics (e.g.
banking, stock and bond investments, etc.).
Students and parents, as
we progress through the semester we welcome your questions, concerns,
and comments.
Javier Vela
John Penn
Judy Sinclair
Click here for the companion Website to our new textbook.
Click
here for a table of contents. [This is useful if the navigation
links, above, are not appearing in your browser.]
©2002 by Gary Nelson. All rights reserved.
|