Nihil Obstat Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 [quote name='Amppax' timestamp='1307036707' post='2249216'] If anyone else is interested, just went to Thomas Woods' website. He has a whole page devoted to beginner Austrian Econ : [url="http://www.tomwoods.com/learn-austrian-economics/"]http://www.tomwoods.com/learn-austrian-economics/[/url] [/quote] His Youtube videos are spectacular as well. [url="http://www.youtube.com/user/TomWoodsTV"]TomWoodsTV[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winchester Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 [quote name='dUSt' timestamp='1307029534' post='2249179'] I [b]highly[/b] recommend checking out the economics and finance sections at the Khan Academy: [size="5"]http://www.khanacademy.org/[/size] Free, online videos. I love Sal Khan. He's helped me re-learn math in order to help my daughter with her homework more times than I can count. Jump to the economics section: http://www.khanacademy.org/#current-economics I think in the future, Khan Academy "badges" will mean just as much to employers as a degree, haha. [/quote] [img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y49/sitedrm/khaaaaan.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudate_Dominum Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 [quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1306995216' post='2249098'] I recommend his books so often that I feel like an old cliche to keep bringing them up. I think Sean was bugging me a while back about that. [/quote] I was totally joking man. don't worry about it, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 [quote name='Laudate_Dominum' timestamp='1307037378' post='2249223'] I was totally joking man. don't worry about it, please. [/quote] I know! You were right though. I do recommend him a lot. Only because his books really resolve a lot of problems I used to have when thinking about economics from a Catholic perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amppax Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 [quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1307037087' post='2249220'] His Youtube videos are spectacular as well. [url="http://www.youtube.com/user/TomWoodsTV"]TomWoodsTV[/url] [/quote] Looked these up, he seems like a really interesting guy. I'd heard of him before, but never really looked into what he taught, seems like a really smart guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 [quote name='Amppax' timestamp='1307248771' post='2250088'] Looked these up, he seems like a really interesting guy. I'd heard of him before, but never really looked into what he taught, seems like a really smart guy. [/quote] Really knows his history, knows the American constitution, spot on with economics, and really devout Catholic to boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amppax Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 Alright, mainly for the sake of the bump (but also for info), what papal encyclicals should I read? and should I be starting with those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 I'd rather not get into that to a great extent. The papal social encyclicals are obviously not adequate in understanding economics. You get properly applied social doctrine, but at times incorrectly understood economics. Obviously they're valuable morally, but you don't learn economics from them. It only makes sense, since none of the popes to date have been economists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EcceNovaFacioOmni Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 There are many, but Rerum Novarum is [i]the[/i] classic and Centessimus Annus is the most contemporary one which is devoted chiefly to economics. There really is an economic element to almost every encyclical. John Paul wrote a lot about labor and work, and always put in calls for lay people to Christianize the public square in all its various arenas. Benedict has continued to touch on economics in his encyclicals. There have been rumors his next will be dedicated to human work. The encyclicals and the Compendium of Social Doctrine, etc. are good on humanizing the marketplace, but don't touch on the basic science of how the market works. To get serious you have to read some hard economics, and it would probably help to start there first. Without getting political, I think too many well-meaning Catholics study our "social doctrine" divorced from economic realities and end up proposing ideas that are impractical (and therefore unhelpful). This is one of Thomas Woods' big points in his writing on Catholicism and economics. Thomas Aquinas wrote something to the effect that Christians making assertions from faith in secular domains, without having sufficient familiarity with the science, bring unnecessary mockery to the faith when they are shown to be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 A good example is wage theory. Some of our popes, with nothing but the most Christian intentions, have assumed that a minimum wage is helpful. The idea is that it's good for the poor and stimulates economic activity, etc.. In reality, this is not the case at all, as you know if you've been studying Austrian economics recently. So this is an example of morality applied soundly to incorrect assumptions in the secular arena. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Cat Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 (edited) Minimum wages and living wages are not the same. Denmark for example encourages negotiations between employee unions and employer associations, there is no set wage far as I am aware. Also, I suspect the Church would want employers, out of care for their employees, to do this voluntarily. But that historically has rarely happened. Edited June 15, 2011 by Mr.CatholicCat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Go to the library and get a copy of [i]Freakonomics[/i] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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