Economics for Debate & Extemporaneous Speaking

Transcription

1 Economics for Debate & Extemporaneous Speaking Gregory Rehmke Economic Thinking AstoundingIdeasFederalCourts.blogspot.com AstoundingIdeasFreedom.blogspot.com

2 Economics: The Basics Scarcity: Not enough of everything for everyone. So... people make choices about what to consume, and education, training, and what to produce. Scarcity Choice Opportunity cost When we buy something, the true cost is the opportunity cost : our next choice on our list. In work or leisure we make similar choices Combining producers and consumers, we have: Supply and Demand of goods and services.

3 Economics, Social Order and [Your extemp/debate topic here] Reform? Economics: human action in response to scarcity. People--in families and firms--face scarcity, and make choices about what to produce and consume. Economics looks at market prices generated by the supply and demand of goods and services. Changing prices, in turn, reflect information, and influence decisions of producers and consumers. What are the rules of the game and how are they made? Just and efficient legal rules are key: Rules are decided by? Legislatures? Federal Courts? Voluntary exchange?

4 Economic Development from Holland, Scotland, England, to the World. But there s a long backstory to the Industrial Revolution...

5 What Everyone Should Know about Economics... What Every Debater and Extemper Should Know About Economics By David Beers (Revised by Gregory Rehmke, September 2011) Introduction: Why Economics? As a policy debater or extemper you are a spinner of tales. Your art is to tell a story that is reasoned, persuasive, fresh in a word, compelling. And you must ply your art better than the speakers who come before or after you in the round. The best, most believable story usually wins. To be sure, the stories you tell are of a special sort: they have a distinctive structure, sometimes involve specialized lingo, and they tend to quote an awful lot of outside sources to convince the listener that they are true. But beneath the surface every good debate or extemp speech has the hallmarks of a good tale. It introduces characters (politicians, business people, voters, etc.) who face or create some sort of conflict (in debate we sometimes call it As an extemper, you will find that economics opens up a whole range of fresh approaches to tired old questions and strengthens your personal voice. This will free you from relying exclusively on other peoples analysis and give you the capacity to evaluate media assertions with authority and clarity. Whichever event is your favorite, an understanding of a few basic economic principles will help you tell compelling, well-reasoned stories that will leave your opponents wondering, how d they do that? So where is a student or coach to turn for a practical introduction to these principles? A slim volume titled What Everyone Should Know About Economics and Prosperity by James Gwartney and Richard Stroup is a superb place to start (see for possible links to online versions of this book or for information on how to order it). Unlike many otherwise excellent introductory economics books, this one has the virtue of unsurpassed brevity. Clocking in at only a little over 100 pages, it is astonishing how much of the basic core of economics is explained. Each short chapter begins with a simple, one-sentence summary of the point to be made in that chapter. And you

6 Nation-States, Cities, and Charter Cities

7 Economic History For most people through history, liberty wasn t so much an option. Roman Empire then Feudal Europe Fernand Braudel, The Structures of Everyday Life: Famine in France... Henry Hazlitt, The Conquest of Poverty: A short history of famines... Through the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s life in Western Europe was transformed.

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9 From The Old Order to The New Order Western Europe: From social Status to Contract. From Old Order of aristocracy, militarism, and mercantilism to New Order of charter cities, contract, and commerce. From the Rights and Obligations of Serfdom and Rights of Nobles (Magna Carta), to Chartered Rights of Cities and Freeman ( City air makes free ). A year and a day in a city. Lord Acton: History is best understood as the history of liberty. The history of people emerging, or escaping, from arbitrary authority of others.

10 Medieval Trade Venice, Genoa, Hansa

11 Western Europe Economic Miracles

12 Western Europe Economic Miracles

13 Western Europe Economic Miracle Maybe competitive religions were an advantage?

14 Prosperity and Government Revenue Dramatic economic expansion in Western Europe and the U.S. leads to enthusiasms to transform the world. The U.S. gains the economic might to bring the blessings of liberty and Christianity to other countries Spanish-American War. At the same time, on the domestic front, government tax revenues, federal lands, and regulatory power transform the U.S.

15 Economies Emerging From USSR/Eastern Europe, and China,India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America