Assignment:

Economists use GDP to measure the total production in an economy. Sometimes GDP is used as a measure of well-being. However, as Neil Young points out, GDP is not a perfect measure of well being. For example, it is not adjusted for inequality (the homeless man), crime (a kinder, gentler, machine gun hand), and pollution (Styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer). What other factors affect our well being but are not calculated in GDP? If we included these other factors that affect our well being, does GDP over estimate or underestimate our well being?

[Provided by Simon Medcalfe (Brenau U.)]

Assignment:

This song sings the virtues of having $1M and all that it can buy. However, millionaires are far more common today than when the Barenaked Ladies first released this song in 1992. Use the consumer price index to find the equivalent amount of money you'd need to possess today to buy what $1M dollars bought in 1992. Also, there are several items mentioned in the song that money can't buy. Discuss.

Assignment:

This 2005 modern rock hit examines the circular nature of poverty. Recognize the ending? It is a variation of the well-known children’s song, “There’s a hole in my bucket, Dear Liza.” The ballad is especially poignant since if your money is draining out you can never get ahead! Using the most recent edition of the Statistical Abstract of the United States determine the personal savings rate. Why does a low savings rate matter?

Assignment:

Researchers have questioned whether you can design a welfare system that provides a generous safety net, but not so generous that the effective marginal tax rate that the poor face when contemplating leaving welfare is too onerous. Explain why creating the right incentives to get productive people to leave welfare is so difficult.

Assignment:

What is the implied rate of taxation in this Beatles song? Does this seem high to you? For comparison, what was the top marginal tax rate in the U.S. federal income tax code in 1960? In 1980? What incentives do you think are created when tax rates are this high? Why might lower tax rates be better from the standpoint of generating more government revenue?

Assignment:

In "The Day the Dollar Die", Peter Tosh appears to be longing for a world without money. What would a world without dollars look like? Do you think there would be less corruption or that scarcity would be eliminated in a world without money? What other problems would arise? Your answer should address the coincidence of wants.

What if Tosh is only talking about fiat money? Do you think his lyrics can be read to be anti- fiat money? Give an example.

Assignment:

Boots, the lead rapper in the Coup, is making a social commentary when he says, "If everybody in the hood had a Ph.D., You'd say hey Dr. flip that burger, hell it good for me." In a world where everyone had Ph.D.'s would we observe Dr.'s flipping burgers? What value does a college education provide? Is there such a thing as too much education?

What does Riley mean when he says that "its inflation that's doing this taking?" Taking implies that someone benefits. Who benefits from inflation?