Committee:
Education
When:
Friday, November 4, 2011 - 4:30pm
Location:
Plaza next to the Chicago Board of Trade (corner of Lasalle and Jackson, between Jackson and Van Buren)
Facilitator:
Professor Scott Hiley (Northwestern)
Hedge funds and investment banks would have us believe in a sort of miracle: that invested capital reproduces itself, that money creates more money. In this discussion, we will examine that claim critically. Where do profits come from? What determines the value of goods and services? How does the investor class manage to get rich while the working class struggles to get by? Our ultimate goal will be to understand the mechanisms driving inequality and the radical changes necessary to build a society of shared prosperity.
Comments
Paradigm Shift
Is this, at long last, the day of reckoning for the Capitalists? They have managed to stave off Socialism for 100 years. Has the illusion of the "American Dream" finally been dispelled? Do The People now see the rich for what they are? Exploiters! Provocateurs! Keynes was able to save the Capitalists from the depression, ushering in Bretton Wood and the almost golden age. However, as soon as the challenge of Socialism seemed to fade over the horizon there was no need to pretend anymore. Keynes was summarily dismissed, enough of these rules and regulations! The Washington Consensus took over and greed was good again. Even if we go back to the common sense balanced approach of Keynes will that restore economic equality and prosperity for all? Perhaps it's time to really rein in uncertainty and plan things out much better. Perhaps it's time to evolve economically. We need more discussions like this to make educated decisions about what kind of economy we want. What is our priority, profits or people?