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A Bluestocking Guide: Economics
A Bluestocking Guide: Economics includes: Chapter-by-chapter comprehension questions and answers for the book Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? as well as: suggested activities, application exercises, articles that expand on the concepts presented in Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?, a list of recommended movies and documentaries that contain good economic history, a list of web sites with good economic content, and a final exam. Also includes an economic timetable that can be used to fill in the economic history that is usually missing from history books, historical fiction, historical movies, documentaries, etc. This study guide is designed for multi-age level use for ages 13 through 18.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 3, 2022
2010 - I read this, in conjunction with "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy" for a homeschool co-op class I taught that I called "Capitalism 4 kids," based on the book by that same name by Karl Hess.
This book had excellent essays, study guide questions and tips for kids and adults.
Recommended!
This book had excellent essays, study guide questions and tips for kids and adults.
Recommended!
December 15, 2021
Every student—every American—particularly politicians and economists, should read this to better understand the root causes of rising prices and inflation issues currently plaguing our economy, the history of free markets, how our legal system is rooted in old English Common Law (based upon Natural Law), and the correlation between a nation’s legal system and its economic prosperity. The study of history, law, and economics are often studied from a compartmentalized approach, which obscures and hinders one’s understanding of all three subjects. When studied together, economics is more easily understood, flaws in the present economic model can be detected, and a return to many of the
long-forgotten Natural Law principles (that our Founding Fathers adhered to) would ameliorate the present day predicaments our nation has saddled itself with. Economics textbooks in most schools have exclusively taught Keynesian economic principles since the 1940s, entirely neglecting Austrian and Monetarist economic principles, which are more reliable models: their economic predictions are more accurate. When predictions are inaccurate the science behind a method is clearly incorrect. Therein lies the problem behind our current economic philosophies, which are shifting towards socialism at an alarming rate.
Maybury compares the government’s gradual debasing of money in Ancient Rome to the practice of our modern-day government injecting money into the economy, which is essentially a form of legal counterfeiting. In the Roman Empire, the value of basic necessities wasn’t technically increasing; rather, the value of the denarius was declining. Maybury explains “Bread didn’t cost 300 denarii because the bread was so valuable; it cost 300 denarii because the denarii were almost worthless.” Inflation causes the value of monetary units to decrease. When the value of money goes down, we consequently need more of it to buy what we need and want. As government officials create more and more money worldwide, money is rapidly losing its value, and prices naturally rise. Inflation itself actually refers not to rising prices—as we often tend to define it—but is actually an increase in the amount of money; rising prices are caused by inflation. Thus, the rising prices we typically regard as “inflation” are a symptom of inflation, whereas the root cause of those rising prices is inflation itself—the increase in money that causes the value of money to fall. This is what happened to the penny candy of the 1940s; Maybury reveals “the candy didn’t go up, the penny went down.”
Similarly, the wage/price spiral is a consequence—not a cause of inflation: wages and prices cannot increase unless more money is created; this is why wage and prices controls have never been effective, since they do not prevent increases in the money supply.
Maybury examines the economic effects various wars and policies have had upon America and other nations. History shows that government interference, particularly inflation (again, this refers to additional money created by the government) intended to to correct economic issues, inadvertently tends to lengthen depressions and spark recessions. Look at the Dark Ages (the longest depression in the history of the world): a lack of reliable money (due to brutal, crooked governments of the time) “made production and trade very difficult, so people were unable to lift themselves above the poverty level.” Look at the Great Depression: Roosevelt’s New Deal resulted in more unemployed in 1940 than 1931. When President Roosevelt forced employers to cease from firing their workers, businesses didn’t have the resources to continue paying everyone: instead of a few losing their jobs, businesses went broke and many more workers ultimately lost their jobs. When the government stepped in and prevented foreign businesses from selling their goods in the U.S. and vice versa, foreign companies had to fire their workers, and the depression spread worldwide. When society becomes impatient and demands political officials intervene to aid businesses and correct economic problems, those economic problems take longer to resolve, and a vicious cycle often repeats, whereas economic problems would often correct themselves without government interference: “the post-World War II recession [that resulted from a sudden halt to military production] was not seen as a problem but a solution and was allowed to proceed unhindered.” Examine how different countries responded to the recession: Sears viewed the “shakeout” as mild and began expansion, whereas Montgomery Ward feared the U.S. would return to the Great Depression and, thus, never recovered from its extremely cautious approach in production following WWII. Today, however, recessions are incorrectly viewed as problems that the government attempts to stop by issuing large amounts of money; this unwittingly prolongs recessions and the complete corrections that would automatically ensue without government intervention are never able to occur.
Additionally, voters in Ancient Greece only elected politicians who had taken annual oaths against debasing money; this stopped inflation, and Athens was very prosperous for many years. Maybury explains Greece only became “the economic train wreck that it is today, because of socialism. So much is to be learned from this.
Maybury explains Natural Law, “represented by the Old English Common Law” teaches “there is a Higher Law than any government’s law, and a judge’s job is to discover and apply this Higher Law. Under Natural Law, an individual’s right to his or her life, freedom, and property are granted not by the government but by the Creator [as per the Declaration of Independence]. No human authority can ever reduce these rights.” Natural Law stems from two fundamental laws taught by the majority of most religions: “do all you have agreed to do (the basis of contract law), and do not encroach upon other persons or their property (the basis of tort law and some criminal law)…Experience shows that where these laws are widely obeyed by everyone—including the government—the result is liberty, free markets, and rapid economic growth. Investment and job opportunities abound.” Maybury juxtaposes Natural Law alongside civil law or Roman Law, which premise is that “there is no law higher than any government’s law and an individual’s rights are granted by the government.” A judge’s job under the civil/Roman Law system is to “apply the government’s law no matter what this law requires,” even if the government’s law violates the two [aforementioned] fundamental laws outlined above. “Civil law or Roman Law can lead to liberty and free markets, or it can lead to slavery. Lawmakers are free to do whatever they believe necessary—no exceptions, no limits. They can allow free press, free speech, and free markets one week, and then change their minds and throw millions into concentration camps the next week. Whatever appears necessary.”
Civil law reigned supreme throughout history, until the Magna Carta in 1215 through World War I and the Great Depression—during which much of the world was being governed according to Natural Law principles. America was the leader in this shift after 1776, and those countries abiding by Natural Law became “the most prosperous with the most job opportunities, the largest middle classes, and the most investment opportunities.” (During the Roman Republic, Rome operated under an early form of common law but reverted to Roman law/civil law that was in place prior to the Republic).
As a result of the spread of socialism in the mid-1800s, socialism “had become a dominant political and economic philosophy in nearly every nation. The movement to Natural Law died away. Today in America, few know anything about Natural Law or why it leads to economic advancement…So you see…economics is just part of the formula that leads to liberty and economic prosperity. The other part is law. Roman law enables governments to inflate their currencies and tax without limit…Checking the legal system and Index of Economic Freedom” provides a “quick but highly revealing, look at the investment potential of any given country. Those with a heavy Natural Law influence and economic freedom index of 75.0 to 80.0 are likely to have the least risk” and are generally the “safer places to travel as a tourist or businessperson…[the U.S. index was 76.2 at the time of this book’s publication in 2015. Some of the highest scoring countries were Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand; the worst scoring nations were Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea]. Remember…a country’s economic prosperity, or lack of it, is directly related to its legal system…the very best protection for future investments is a population that is dedicated to the two fundamental laws and tolerates no violation of them.”
I highly recommend this book and that it be studied in conjunction with the articles and charts contained within A Bluestocking Guide: Economics by Jane A. Williams as well as alongside the excellent articles contained in Economics: A Free Market Reader, edited by Jane A. Williams and Kathryn Daniels. Each of these supplemental resources is a treasure trove of information that will greatly enhance the study of economics!
Looking forward to reading ALL of Richard J. Maybury’s resources! I highly recommend his materials.
long-forgotten Natural Law principles (that our Founding Fathers adhered to) would ameliorate the present day predicaments our nation has saddled itself with. Economics textbooks in most schools have exclusively taught Keynesian economic principles since the 1940s, entirely neglecting Austrian and Monetarist economic principles, which are more reliable models: their economic predictions are more accurate. When predictions are inaccurate the science behind a method is clearly incorrect. Therein lies the problem behind our current economic philosophies, which are shifting towards socialism at an alarming rate.
Maybury compares the government’s gradual debasing of money in Ancient Rome to the practice of our modern-day government injecting money into the economy, which is essentially a form of legal counterfeiting. In the Roman Empire, the value of basic necessities wasn’t technically increasing; rather, the value of the denarius was declining. Maybury explains “Bread didn’t cost 300 denarii because the bread was so valuable; it cost 300 denarii because the denarii were almost worthless.” Inflation causes the value of monetary units to decrease. When the value of money goes down, we consequently need more of it to buy what we need and want. As government officials create more and more money worldwide, money is rapidly losing its value, and prices naturally rise. Inflation itself actually refers not to rising prices—as we often tend to define it—but is actually an increase in the amount of money; rising prices are caused by inflation. Thus, the rising prices we typically regard as “inflation” are a symptom of inflation, whereas the root cause of those rising prices is inflation itself—the increase in money that causes the value of money to fall. This is what happened to the penny candy of the 1940s; Maybury reveals “the candy didn’t go up, the penny went down.”
Similarly, the wage/price spiral is a consequence—not a cause of inflation: wages and prices cannot increase unless more money is created; this is why wage and prices controls have never been effective, since they do not prevent increases in the money supply.
Maybury examines the economic effects various wars and policies have had upon America and other nations. History shows that government interference, particularly inflation (again, this refers to additional money created by the government) intended to to correct economic issues, inadvertently tends to lengthen depressions and spark recessions. Look at the Dark Ages (the longest depression in the history of the world): a lack of reliable money (due to brutal, crooked governments of the time) “made production and trade very difficult, so people were unable to lift themselves above the poverty level.” Look at the Great Depression: Roosevelt’s New Deal resulted in more unemployed in 1940 than 1931. When President Roosevelt forced employers to cease from firing their workers, businesses didn’t have the resources to continue paying everyone: instead of a few losing their jobs, businesses went broke and many more workers ultimately lost their jobs. When the government stepped in and prevented foreign businesses from selling their goods in the U.S. and vice versa, foreign companies had to fire their workers, and the depression spread worldwide. When society becomes impatient and demands political officials intervene to aid businesses and correct economic problems, those economic problems take longer to resolve, and a vicious cycle often repeats, whereas economic problems would often correct themselves without government interference: “the post-World War II recession [that resulted from a sudden halt to military production] was not seen as a problem but a solution and was allowed to proceed unhindered.” Examine how different countries responded to the recession: Sears viewed the “shakeout” as mild and began expansion, whereas Montgomery Ward feared the U.S. would return to the Great Depression and, thus, never recovered from its extremely cautious approach in production following WWII. Today, however, recessions are incorrectly viewed as problems that the government attempts to stop by issuing large amounts of money; this unwittingly prolongs recessions and the complete corrections that would automatically ensue without government intervention are never able to occur.
Additionally, voters in Ancient Greece only elected politicians who had taken annual oaths against debasing money; this stopped inflation, and Athens was very prosperous for many years. Maybury explains Greece only became “the economic train wreck that it is today, because of socialism. So much is to be learned from this.
Maybury explains Natural Law, “represented by the Old English Common Law” teaches “there is a Higher Law than any government’s law, and a judge’s job is to discover and apply this Higher Law. Under Natural Law, an individual’s right to his or her life, freedom, and property are granted not by the government but by the Creator [as per the Declaration of Independence]. No human authority can ever reduce these rights.” Natural Law stems from two fundamental laws taught by the majority of most religions: “do all you have agreed to do (the basis of contract law), and do not encroach upon other persons or their property (the basis of tort law and some criminal law)…Experience shows that where these laws are widely obeyed by everyone—including the government—the result is liberty, free markets, and rapid economic growth. Investment and job opportunities abound.” Maybury juxtaposes Natural Law alongside civil law or Roman Law, which premise is that “there is no law higher than any government’s law and an individual’s rights are granted by the government.” A judge’s job under the civil/Roman Law system is to “apply the government’s law no matter what this law requires,” even if the government’s law violates the two [aforementioned] fundamental laws outlined above. “Civil law or Roman Law can lead to liberty and free markets, or it can lead to slavery. Lawmakers are free to do whatever they believe necessary—no exceptions, no limits. They can allow free press, free speech, and free markets one week, and then change their minds and throw millions into concentration camps the next week. Whatever appears necessary.”
Civil law reigned supreme throughout history, until the Magna Carta in 1215 through World War I and the Great Depression—during which much of the world was being governed according to Natural Law principles. America was the leader in this shift after 1776, and those countries abiding by Natural Law became “the most prosperous with the most job opportunities, the largest middle classes, and the most investment opportunities.” (During the Roman Republic, Rome operated under an early form of common law but reverted to Roman law/civil law that was in place prior to the Republic).
As a result of the spread of socialism in the mid-1800s, socialism “had become a dominant political and economic philosophy in nearly every nation. The movement to Natural Law died away. Today in America, few know anything about Natural Law or why it leads to economic advancement…So you see…economics is just part of the formula that leads to liberty and economic prosperity. The other part is law. Roman law enables governments to inflate their currencies and tax without limit…Checking the legal system and Index of Economic Freedom” provides a “quick but highly revealing, look at the investment potential of any given country. Those with a heavy Natural Law influence and economic freedom index of 75.0 to 80.0 are likely to have the least risk” and are generally the “safer places to travel as a tourist or businessperson…[the U.S. index was 76.2 at the time of this book’s publication in 2015. Some of the highest scoring countries were Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand; the worst scoring nations were Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea]. Remember…a country’s economic prosperity, or lack of it, is directly related to its legal system…the very best protection for future investments is a population that is dedicated to the two fundamental laws and tolerates no violation of them.”
I highly recommend this book and that it be studied in conjunction with the articles and charts contained within A Bluestocking Guide: Economics by Jane A. Williams as well as alongside the excellent articles contained in Economics: A Free Market Reader, edited by Jane A. Williams and Kathryn Daniels. Each of these supplemental resources is a treasure trove of information that will greatly enhance the study of economics!
Looking forward to reading ALL of Richard J. Maybury’s resources! I highly recommend his materials.
May 18, 2021
I got this book as part of the curriculum that I chose when I took on the task of teaching my 13-year-old cousin the 7th grade. He hated it with a vengeance, and gave me all sorts of trouble, claiming that the book didn't give enough information for him to answer the questions, so I decided to read the whole thing over once he was done with it, and realized my mistake. I had only made him read the articles geared toward readers his age and younger, and then asked him to answer all of the questions, not realizing that some of them were referring to the articles for older people. So, in some cases, he was right, and he did not have enough information. But he is also a lazy reader, who finished an entire volume of Winnie-the-Pooh and claimed that there had been nothing in it about Eeyore, although two chapters had "In Which Eeyore. . ." in their titles. I despair of him.
That being said, upon reading it, I did learn a great deal about economics, and feel that this book was well worth buying, for my education if not for his.
That being said, upon reading it, I did learn a great deal about economics, and feel that this book was well worth buying, for my education if not for his.
February 23, 2024
Great companion book for Whatever Happened to Penny Candy. No necessary, mind you, but it has some great articles and excellent discussion questions over the topics in the other book. I’m not a big fan of the layout. It’s not organized very well and feels…chaotic? I’m not sure what the right word is but it gives me anxiety lol
June 16, 2020
The quality of the essays really vary in this book. Some are fantastic and some are definitely more free-market than I lean. But regardless, it’s worth assigning to my kids (in conjunction with other books about economics) so they can hear different viewpoints. And again, some of the essays are great.
April 19, 2016
I read this for my economics class. Besides not really liking the format it was printed in (the article format made it seem like things were taking FOR EV VAH to read, and it's super flat and a good foot long...) the content itself was very interesting.
Want to read
May 10, 2012Hi,
I need to buy that book.
Thanks
I need to buy that book.
Thanks
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews