Tuesday, December 08, 2009

My Freshman Seminar

Sadly, my freshman seminar is now over. Above is a group shot from our last meeting, held over dinner at my house. (Note the shirts, which the seminar participants arranged.)

I took a poll of the students' favorite readings. The winners were
  1. Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman
  2. Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
  3. The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner

Click here for the full reading list.

I also asked the students how their views had changed over the course of the semester. Those who started out liberal said they came to appreciate market mechanisms more. Those who started out conservative said they came to appreciate the market's limitations. In other words, after a few months of reading and discussing economics and public policy, most of them moved toward the political center and closer to agreement.