Schools of Economics.

Professor Ha-Joon Chang taught Economics at Cambridge for more than 30 years. He lectures with humour and down to earth examples making this subject accessible to everyone. 26 episodes.

A concerned Canadian

A lifelong friend, Chuck, recently recommended the 26-episode series on Economics by Professor Ha-Joon Chang.

Chuck, like me, is retired. We are both living primarily off our personal savings following long careers in the Information Technology sector. We fully appreciate how fortunate we have been as Baby Boomers to have had the opportunity and the wisdom to save for retirement. Likewise, we are a painfully aware of the challenges of today’s youth to achieve the same retirement prospects.

Dr. Chang lists a dozen “schools” of Economics

Throughout history, the nature of economic activity has changed.

Many schools of thought have been advanced by leading thinkers of their day to gerrymander the landscape of trade with a unique vision of success in mind. Each espoused very different strategies to establish desirable and sustainable “political economies”.

Ha-Joon claims that none of the “schools of economic thought” offers ‘the perfect formula’ for any nation given their unique circumstances.

He also claims there is wisdom to be found within each of them from which to draw.

The study of Economics is the study our human beings engaged in trade.

Some people can trade freely with others based on mutually agreeable terms established by the participating parties.

The majority of the world’s people cannot. They are supervised by others to carry out their trading activities based on a set of rules imposed on them primarily by government institutions. The former “free trade” approach carries some risk of deception or “buyer’s remorse”. The latter “controlled trade” allegedly exists to minimize this risk.

Reading, writing, arithmetic and Economics.

Public education teaches the “3 Rs” but not the fundamentals about how individuals in societies interact with each other on the basis of trade. This oversight has enormous adverse consequences to a well functioning society.

While I have only watched one episode of Dr. Chang’s podcast presentations, I am hoping to whet the appetite of others who have long wished to up their knowledge in this vital subject. Why?

I have long believed that every voter is ill-prepared to vote responsively unless he or she has acquired a sound understanding of Economics. This is vital to understand the intentional and potential unintended consequences of any policy proposals presented by political candidates.

Furthermore, in ideal circumstances, no citizens should run for public office without first studying Economics. Macroeconomics, microeconomics and monetary economics are “must know” subjects for politicians to credibly propose economically sound policies.

SWOT+

For every class of professional in today’s Labour markets, a high degree of expertise is expected. From the trades to health care providers to teachers to accountants to financial advisors, credentials are expected and strict regulations apply under public and professional governing bodies. The only exception is politics.

A dream scenario.

If I could challenge any and all politicians on a given public “investment”/spending decision and if he or she could offer a comprehensive ROI response based on a SWOT+ analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats + who benefits & who pays), I would be over the moon with excitement.