New course in economics to provide ‘A Closer Look at Capitalism’

Raleigh, N.C. – July 14, 2008 - With the recent twists and turns in the nation’s economy, this seems to be a good time to launch the NC State College of Management’s new economics course: A Closer Look at Capitalism [EC 305].

The course is the first developed as part of a new BB&T Center for the Study of Free Markets and Institutions being created at the college with support of a $2 million gift commitment from the BB&T Charitable Foundation.

Students can expect to get to the heart of the matter on day one, said Craig Newmark, associate professor of economics and instructor for the course.

“On the first day, I'll tell the students about two fundamental issues confronting society,” he said. Those are:

  • How much should we focus on individual rights and responsibilities versus how much should we focus on the entire group?
  • How much should we focus on "stuff" -  material goods and services - versus less tangible, "spiritual" things: beauty, harmony with Nature, happiness?

“There is no right or wrong answer to each of those questions,” Newmark said, “but I'll argue that if you prefer to focus on the individual, and if you like lots of ‘stuff,’ then capitalism is the best economic system.”

Other topics to be covered in the course include:

  • The value in capitalistic markets and market prices, including the effective transmission of information, desirable incentives and opportunities offered to individuals to prosper.
  • The most common attacks on capitalism and defenses against them.
  • Potential problems of the primary alternative to capitalism: government regulation and control of economic activity.
  • A look at empirical research evaluating the performance of capitalism.

Students will also get a review of some of the basics of economics, including how markets create value, mutual gains from trade and property rights. As time permits, Newmark also will include a discussion of direct real world implications in such areas as food and product safety, antitrust cases, globalization and Social Security.