Preface to Reisman's Lectures on Capitalism Macroeconomics

Preface to Reisman's Lectures on Capitalism Macroeconomics

Author: George Reisman October 1, 2020 Duration: 2:36

1. To provide the student with a comprehensive knowledge of the operations of a free-enterprise, division-of-labor society, with special emphasis on the phenomena of money, production, real wages and the productivity of labor, profit, saving and capital accumulation, and economic progress. The consequences of government intervention with respect to these phenomena will be considered in depth.

2. To teach the student to think of economic phenomena in terms of their long-run effects on all groups, not merely their short-run effects on those directly concerned.

OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE

The course will focus on the current or recent problem areas of the banking system, unemployment, economic stagnation, budget and trade deficits, and inflation, in the light of the contrasting analyses of the Keynesian and “Classical” schools (the latter including the Chicago and Austrian schools). Policy solutions to these problems will be explored—in particular free-market wage rates, balanced budgets with low taxes, and limitation of money-supply growth versus expansionary fiscal and monetary policy.

Two leading themes of the course will be 1) The possibility of continuous capital accumulation and economic progress based on the combination of economic freedom, private ownership of the means of production, division of labor, saving, and technological progress. 2) The ethical implication of the harmony of the rational self-interests of all men under these conditions.

BOOKS FOR THE COURSE

  • George Reisman, Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics. Ottawa, Illinois: Jameson Books, 1996.
  • Henry Hazlitt, Economics In One Lesson (paperback).
  • George Reisman, editor, Supplementary Readings in Macroeconomics (to be distributed in class). [The essays contained in this title appear below with references to their original sources.]
  • Paul Samuelson and William Nordhaus, Macro-Economics (paperback), 15th Edition, (New York: McGraw Hill,
  • 1995).
  • (Optional) Ludwig von Mises, Human Action (paperback), Third Edition.

For anyone who has ever wanted to sit in on a rigorous university course about the economic system that shapes our world, The Capitalist Professor with George Reisman, Ph.D.-Free College Courses on Capitalism opens the classroom doors. Hosted by George Reisman, a Pepperdine University Professor Emeritus of Economics and the author of the seminal work *Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics*, this series transforms his detailed academic lectures into an accessible audio format. Each episode functions as a chapter in a comprehensive education, delving into the principles, history, and philosophical underpinnings of capitalist theory without the tuition fee. You’ll hear Reisman’s direct, scholarly analysis, breaking down complex ideas on production, prices, profit, and the market process with the clarity of a seasoned educator. This isn't a casual interview show but a structured curriculum, offering listeners the rare opportunity to absorb a full, systematic defense and explanation of capitalism from one of its most dedicated intellectual proponents. Tune into this podcast for a methodical and thought-provoking journey through economic theory that challenges conventional narratives and provides a foundational understanding straight from the lecture hall.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 28

The Capitalist Professor with George Reisman, Ph.D. - Free College Courses on Capitalism
Podcast Episodes
Capitalism Macroeconomics Lecture 13 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:03:32
Inflation. Exposition and critique of alternative theories of rising prices, leading to the conclusion that the quantity theory of money is the only valid explanation. The meaning of inflation. Its roots in deficits, the…
Capitalism Macroeconomics Lecture 12 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:13:39
Keynesianism and Neo-Keynesianism. Exposition and critique of the Keynesian analysis: the unemployment-equilibrium doctrine and the IS curve; the consumption and savings functions; the diminishing marginal efficiency of…
Capitalism Macroeconomics Lecture 11 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:12:30
Relationship of the net-consumption/net-investment theory to the time-preference and productivity theories. The alleged problems of underconsumption and lack of “investment opportunities.” How the demand for capital good…
Capitalism Macroeconomics Lecture 10 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:04:59
Capital accumulation and its causes. The role of saving. The role of technological progress and the productivity of capital goods. The role of economic freedom. Critique of the secular-stagnation doctrine. National incom…
Capitalism Macroeconomics Lecture 9 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:56:41
Capital accumulation and its causes. The role of saving. The role of technological progress and the productivity of capital goods. The role of economic freedom. Critique of the secular-stagnation doctrine. National incom…
Capitalism Macroeconomics Lecture 8 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:16:04
The role of saving in spending and income payments. Saving versus hoarding. Saving and aggregate economic accounting: the national income/net national product identity. J. S. Mill’s proposition that demand for commoditie…
Capitalism Macroeconomics Lecture 7 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:06:08
The role of saving in spending and income payments. Saving versus hoarding. Saving and aggregate economic accounting: the national income/net national product identity. J. S. Mill’s proposition that demand for commoditie…
Capitalism Macroeconomics Lecture 6 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:59:58
Mass unemployment: the causes and the remedy. Real wages and the productivity of labor. Is government intervention to promote labor unions and raise wages in the self-interest of the wage earners or is its actual effect…
Capitalism Macroeconomics Lecture 5 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:45:31
Say’s Law. Monetary demand and real demand; why only more production and supply can increase real demand. Say’s Law and the harmony of long-run self-interests. Say’s Law and the impossibility of a general overproduction;…
Capitalism Macroeconomics Lecture 4 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:11:09
The economic problem and its denial: production versus consumption—the scarcity of wealth versus the alleged scarcity of the need or desire for wealth; the making of goods versus the making of work. Opposite appraisals o…