Government and Economics

SCHEDULE :: REGISTRATION :: TESTIMONIALS

[Note: This class is also offered online. Click here for details or to register.]

“If a nation expects to be ignorant - and free - in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”  ~ Thomas Jefferson

“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.”  ~ John Adams

As with all Living the Answer classes, Government and Economics is about teaching youth to think well about issues that matter. Students will not merely memorize facts about the branches of government or the law of supply and demand; instead, they will explore the weighty questions that confront every one of us as responsible, voting citizens, while gaining foundational knowledge that will equip them to address such questions with confidence and intelligence.

Government and Economics is a year-long, one-credit course with the first semester focusing on American government and the second on economics, per North Carolina educational requirements. The class meets every other week for two hours, for a total of 16 classes. These classes combine lecture and classroom discussion, drawing from extensive assigned readings during the intervening weeks (see reading list below). Students begin by reading foundational works of political philosophy to develop an understanding of the ideas behind the nuts and bolts of government. We then move on to discuss those nuts and bolts, studying the components of American government, both historically and today, with an emphasis on real-world application.

As the first semester ends, Milton Friedman's Capitalism and Freedom will bridge the gap between politics and economics, preparing students for Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. The best high-school-level economics textbook available, Basic Economics doesn't avoid complicated topics, but Sowell's clear, non-technical writing and frequent use of interesting examples make the book exciting and readable. Specific areas that will be covered over the course of the year include,

• Political philosophies that shaped America
• Views of the Founding Fathers
• Structure of American government
• History of American government
• Current issues in American government
  
  
• Prices and markets
• Industry and commerce
• Labor and wages
• Government finance and banking
• International trade

Tuition is $299. Suggested age range is 15-18. Students should be capable of self-directed work. They will be graded based on class participation, online reading quizzes, two five-page papers, and two end-of-semester tests.

REQUIRED READING (This list is final for 2011-2012)

• The Law, Frederic Bastiat
• Two Treatises of Government, John Locke
• The Federalist Papers (Excerpts only. No need to purchase: full text available online)
• The Anti-Federalist Papers (Excerpts only. No need to purchase: full text available online)
• American Government: Brief Edition (7th Edition), James Q. Wilson (This textbook costs around $100 new, but it is available lightly used on Amazon.com for under $10.)
• Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman
• Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy (3rd Edition), Thomas Sowell