Midterm on Monday

This is just a reminder that the midterm is on Monday, November 3rd.

Also, CONGRATS TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONS OF BASEBALL!

Everyday Low Wages

Here are some links related to our third consensus session on Wal-Mart:

• Is Wal-Mart good for the working class? Here's a great debate between an economist who says yes and an activist who says no.
• How did Wal-Mart become the biggest retailer? What we read for class said Sam Walton's big idea was that lower prices would increase total sales and lead to higher profits. But another important development was how Wal-Mart streamlined its inventory process.
  
• Yes, Wal-Mart has low prices, and apparently the prices at other stores also go down in the long run when a Wal-Mart comes to town.
• Here are many of the common criticisms of Wal-Mart.
  
• Beware of false dilemmas! This isn't a zero-sum game: Wal-Mart doesn't have to raise its prices to raise its wages.
• Here's the full episode of South Park about a "Wall-Mart" coming to town. Below are some clips from the episode.
  

Incorporate Responsibly

Here are some links related to our second consensus session topic on corporate responsibility:

• A concise article on Milton Friedman, from a free online economics encyclopedia. (How many free online encyclopedias do you think I know about?)
• Friedman played a big role in making libertarianism and laissez-faire economic policies seem cool again...
  
• ... although the current financial collapse might be killing libertarianism.

What's this current financial collapse all about, anyway? Here's a bunch of pretty good stuff on it:

• How did the subprime mortage crisis happen? The radio show This American Life gives a great explanation, and radio host Terry Gross asks Michael Greenberger to explain it.
• Why did the mortgage crisis lead to the collapse of huge financial companies? This American Life gives another great explanation. OK, Greenberger does, too.
  
• There's also this short play on the role that credit default swaps and netting (or hedging) played in the collapse of those huge financial companies.
  

Finally, we wondered in class which members of a business are required to be socially responsible. Should we focus on the owners, or the management, or the employees? The following scene from Clerks suggests that Kevin Smith believes we should focus on all of them.

Cap & Com

Here are some links related to our first consensus session topic on capitalism and communism.

• An advanced overview of the writings of Karl Marx, from my favorite free online philosophy encyclopedia.
• An advanced overview of the writings of Adam Smith, from another free online philosophy encyclopedia.
  
• George Will gives an explanation of the invisible hand's emergent control of a free market.
• Wait, what's emergence?
  
• Is America's economy capitalist? Well, not exactly. So what should we call it?
  

Cole Hamels Is An Exception

Thanks to the mysterious "Eric from your Rowan class," our anti-I'M-SPECIAL-ism pin made it to the first Phillies playoff game on Wednesday. Not to go against the message of the pin or anything, but I'm taking credit for the win. Clearly the pin is lucky.