Lecture

Wall Street | Lecture 4, Spring 2012

This week will focus on Wall Street, how it functions, and the changes to financial regulation, including the recent Dodd-Frank legislation.


Course Lectures
  • This week will focus on fiscal policy and how the government uses fiscal policy to address issues such as economic growth (and regress), the debt and deficit, and income equality.

  • This week will focus on the Federal Reserve and how their policies influence and affect the national and global economy by controlling the money supply.

  • This week will focus on a case study comparison of the UK vs. the US, which currently offer starkly differing approaches to fiscal policy in the face of a recession (austerity vs. stimulus). The class will get a bigger picture of how fiscal policy and monetary policy intersect to influence national—and global—economics

  • This week will focus on Wall Street, how it functions, and the changes to financial regulation, including the recent Dodd-Frank legislation.

  • This week will focus on how economic decisions actually influence ordinary Americans. This week will also pose the question: "what is the role of government in ordinary Americans' lives?" The class will the notion of the social safety net, including a discussion about the past, present, and future of Social Security.