The OLLI Home Page gives general information on the course.
In the top menu find the right class - Part 1 or Part 2 or Healthcare. Each of the individual class sessions have pages with more information and resources.
Feel free to read (and comment!) on the Plain-Sense Blog - Go to Plain Sense Home
Email: gentryd@sou.edu
Phone: 541-261-8501
We want to explore important social and policy issues facing us today. We will use economic concepts as tools to understand those issues. At the end of each session our work together will have been successful if we can gain a deeper understanding of the issues, regardless of our position or opinion. And, with a little bit of luck, some economic theory will stick.
We have six course sessions scheduled. Each has one or more policy issues to consider with an accompanying set of economic concepts. The topics for sessions 5 and 6 will be decided by a vote of the class participants during session 4.
And the winners are....Healthcare and International Topics
| Session | Social / Policy Issues | Economic Concepts |
| 1 – January 6 | Minimum Wage; Rent Control; Market vs Government Intervention | Demand/Supply, Invisible Hand, Deadweight Loss, Consumer Surplus |
| 2 – January 13 | Pollution Regulation; Cap and Trade, | Public Goods and Common Goods; Externalities; Marginal Analysis |
| 3 – January 20 | Monetary Policy, Money, and the role of the Federal Reserve | Functions of Money; Gold Standard vs. Fiat Money; Monetary functions |
| 4 – January 27 | Fiscal Policy - Government Spending - Taxes - Stimulus - Deficits | |
| 5 – February 3 | International Trade and Currency | Comparative advantage; Balance of Payments |
| 6 - February 10 | Healthcare Markets |
Extra credit if you can name the American city where this was filmed.