Economics: Society, Markets and [In]equality.
About the Course
Economics: Society, Markets, and [In]equality is a free online economics course taught by leading faculty from The New School for Social Research that will pique learners’ curiosity and inspire them to learn more about the power dynamics that determine how people and resources are valued, how goods move around the world, and how we manage our planet and the future. Learners will develop an understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of our current economic system and get a framework for thinking about how we, as individuals and as a society, can rethink our relationship with our planet and the way we interact with one another. This understanding of economics will help make students better advocates, voters, investors, consumers, and citizens.
In this course, you'll be learning from the following New School for Social Research faculty:
- William Milberg, Dean of the New School for Social Research and Professor of Economics
- Teresa Ghilarducci, Bernard L. and Irene Schwartz Professor of Economics and Director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis
- Paulo dos Santos, Associate Professor of Economics
The lecture videos are available on our site, or on YouTube.
To take the full free course, including readings and quizzes, please see our course page on Coursera.
Teaching Guide
Teaching Guide
If you’ve ever endured Econ 101 and then spent some time in the real world, you know how little the two are related. Our course and its companion guide give you something different—an economics primer based on (and for) the world we live in. Not stale archaic formulas, but real life.
Introduction: Why a Worldly Philosophy?
Module 1, Lesson 1.0: A Wealth of Burning Questions, a Poverty of Answers
{youtube}https://youtu.be/66qUOJy52QA{/youtube} New School for Social Research Dean Will Milberg, Professor Teresa Ghilarducci, and Associate Professor Paulo dos Santos introduce the "Economics: Society, Markets and [In]equality" course and its goals: to inspire your curiosity and confidence that economics is a useful tool, and that you can master the basics to vote better, organize better, live your personal lives better. They believe that if people unpack the dominant forms of...
Module 1, Lesson 1.1: Scarcity and Surplus in Human Well-Being
{youtube}https://youtu.be/E9jz9bFHh6c{/youtube} Associate Professor Paulo dos Santos examines three crucial pairs of concepts in political economy and how humans are uniquely capable of changing how we interact with nature and ourselves. By the end of this video, learners will be able to: Identify the three crucial pairs of concepts in political economy Explain how our species is uniquely capable of changing how we interact with nature to secure our survival, and of changing...
Mod. 1, Les. 1.2: Producing for Profit: Study of a Historically Specific Social System - Capitalism
{youtube}https://youtu.be/BsiNleFHzos{/youtube} NSSR Dean Will Milberg discusses the history of capitalism and the continuing effects of colonialism, slavery, and patriarchy on market economies. By the end of this video, learners will be able to: Explain the definition of capitalism and understand its historical origins Discuss how legacies of colonialism, slavery, and patriarchy shape the functioning of market economies.
Common Good, Private Purposes
Module 2, Lesson 2.0: Common Good, Private Purposes Introduction
{youtube}https://youtu.be/sYf8oMPkh7k{/youtube} Associate Professor Paulo dos Santos introduces Module 2: Common Good, Private Purposes. This module has three lessons on the questions of economic coordination and social content in decentralised market economies. Lessons that discuss arguments about what can be called the good, the bad, or the ugly in the functioning of capitalist economies.
Module 2, Lesson 2.1: The Good: Competition, Prices, & Entrepreneurship (Adam Smith)
{youtube}https://youtu.be/RD0tGGLWs7w{/youtube} In this first lesson of Module 2, Associate Professor Paulo dos Santos discusses the good in capitalist economies by introducing two notable political economists who argued that markets, competition, and well-functioning price systems are the best ways for an industrial society to organise itself: Adam Smith and Friedrich Hayek. This video focuses on Adam Smith. By the end of this video (1/2), learners will be able to: Explain Adam...
Module 2, Lesson 2.1: The Good: Competition, Prices, & Entrepreneurship (Friedrich Hayek)
{youtube}https://youtu.be/D-U-pM0YwCY{/youtube} In this first lesson of Module 2, Associate Professor Paulo dos Santos discusses the good in capitalist economies by introducing two notable political economists who argued that markets, competition, and well-functioning price systems are the best ways for an industrial society to organise itself: Adam Smith and Friedrich Hayek. This video focuses on Friedrich Hayek. By the end of this video (2/2), learners will be able to: Explain...
Power at Work
Module 3, Lesson 3.0: Power at Work Introduction
{youtube}https://youtu.be/zeZqDpyPn8M{/youtube} Professor Ghilarducci introduces Module 3: Power at Work.
Module 3, Lesson 3.1: Basic Sources of Power in the Labor Market (Part 1)
{youtube}https://youtu.be/guH-jHkwMrM{/youtube} In this first lesson of Module 3, Professor Ghilarducci defines power and its impact on workers, employers, and the reservation wage. In an interview with Liz Shuler, the President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO) she discsusses worker bargaining power and the role of unions. By the end of this video (1/2), learners will be able to: Describe why labor force participation...
Module 3, Lesson 3.1: Basic Sources of Power in the Labor Market (Part 2)
{youtube}https://youtu.be/YTwbcQart-s{/youtube} In this first lesson of Module 3, Professor Ghilarducci defines power and its impact on workers, employers, and the reservation wage. In an interview with Liz Shuler, the President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO) she discsusses worker bargaining power and the role of unions. By the end of this video (2/2), learners will be able to: Describe why labor force participation depends on...
The Promises and Disappointments of Globalization
Module 4, Lesson 4.0: The Promises and Disappointments of Globalization Introduction
{youtube}https://youtu.be/T87FaqUcHjY{/youtube} Dean Milberg introduces this fourth module on globalization. What is it? When and why did it happen? What are its consequences?
Module 4, Lesson 4.1: What is Globalization and How Did We Get Here?
{youtube}https://youtu.be/Knsr6fFEBV8{/youtube} In this first lesson of Module Four, Dean Milberg discusses the historical roots of globalization and the international regulatory system. By the end of this video (1/2), learners will be able to: Discuss contemporary globalization in historical perspective. Describe the history of the international regulatory system.
Module 4, Lesson 4.1: The Golden Age of Capitalism and Beyond
{youtube}https://youtu.be/rqPimQkJ_3o{/youtube} In this first lesson of Module 4, Dean Milberg discusses the historical roots of globalization and the international regulatory system. By the end of this video (2/2), learners will be able to: Explain the two parts of globalization: production and finance. Describe the growing role of exports in economic growth for developing countries.
Conclusion: Building a Thriving Society, Planet, and Individuals
Module 5, Lesson 5.1: Institutions for Better Labor Market and Social Outcomes
{youtube}https://youtu.be/3we6tFfi-r0{/youtube} In this concluding module, the Professors focus on the future. They ask: What can a critical political economy tell us about the social challenges we face now and will continue to face in decades to come? What can it tell us about what needs to change in our societies? Video 1/2.
Module 5, Lesson 5.2: Building a Thriving Society
{youtube}https://youtu.be/krYRW_fiMAI{/youtube} In this concluding module, the Professors focus on the future. They ask: What can a critical political economy tell us about the social challenges we face now and will continue to face in decades to come? What can it tell us about what needs to change in our societies? Video 2/2.
