Teaching Philosophy
Economic theory provides a window into the world of action and social organization. It is a way of thinking that includes a web of concepts and particular language. Without these, an observer of society will fail to faithfully interpret events, political or economic, within it. I begin every course with an exhibition of the economic way of thinking. Economics is a science of human decision-making. Its core suppositions allow observers to identify and analyze the effects of a system level rationality. Owing to the selective force of the profit mechanism, agents who manage any substantial amount of wealth are forced to act with regard to the demands of consumers. They are forced to act intelligently or else lose their wealth and the power that it affords them. I believe that every student should leave my class with a substantial knowledge of the economic system. Any course in economics should provide its students a foundation that allows them to make intelligent decisions as consumers, business owners, and policy makers.
Organizing Entrepreneurial Judgment: A New Approach to the Firm by Nicolai J. Foss and Peter G. Klein
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
The White Man's Burden by William Easterly
Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure by Tim Harford
Understanding the Process of Economic Change by Douglass C. North
Homer Economicus: The Simpsons and Economics by Joshua Hall
Human Action: A Treatise on Economics by Ludwig von Mises
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
The Best of Karl Marx by Phil Magness
Marxism: For and Against by Robert L. Heilbroner
Knowledge and Class: A Marxian Critique of Political Economy by Stephen A. Resnick and Richard D. Wolff
Collectivist Economic Planning edited by F.A. Hayek
Rivalry and Central Planning by Don Lavoie
On the Economic Theory of Socialism by Oskar Lange and Fred M. Taylor
Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money by Nathaniel Popper
Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin by Lawrence H. White
The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups by Mancur Olson
The Theory of Political Coalitions by William H. Riker
The Race between Education and Technology by Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz
Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich