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Understanding our Political Economy. COURSE OVERVIEW. INSTRUCTOR Edward J. Dodson, M.L.A. email contact: edod08034@comcast.net. YOUR INSTRUCTOR. Retired since 2005 from Fannie Mae after 20 years in various management and analyst positions
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Understanding our Political Economy COURSE OVERVIEW
INSTRUCTOR Edward J. Dodson, M.L.A. email contact: edod08034@comcast.net
YOUR INSTRUCTOR • Retired since 2005 from Fannie Mae after 20 years in various management and analyst positions • Managed the residential mortgage program at Provident National Bank prior to joining Fannie Mae • Degree in Business Administration from Shippensburg University and a Master of Liberal Arts degree from Temple University • Volunteer faculty member at the Henry George School of Social Science since 1981 and at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (at Temple University) since 2007 • Author of The Discovery of First Principles (in three volumes) • Founded an online education and research project, the School of Cooperative Individualism in 1997 www.cooperative-individualism.org)
RECOMMENDED READING Progress and Poverty, by Henry George (1879)
SYLLABUS • This is a full-year course • Readings from the text, Progress and Poverty are recommended (but not required) to enhance classroom discussion • Other (short) readings will be provided during the course • The course is discussion-oriented. Questions and comments are welcomed and encouraged
Political Economy • traces its roots to the investigations of moral philosophy …
Political Economy • is essentially interdisciplinary …
Political Economy • is a scientific method of investigation asserted to be superior to modern economics …
Political Economy • was displaced by the individual social science disciplines early in the 20th century
GETTING STARTED • What about the state of the world today? • And, what are the prospects for our future?
YOUR STATE OF MIND • Are you very positive about the future? • Are you moderately positive about the future? • Are you moderately negative about the future? • Are you very negative about the future? • Or …
YOUR STATE OF MIND Are you too overwhelmed to even want to think about the future?
PART OF OUR DILEMMA: Are we too driven by adherence to ideologies to solve our social, political and economic problems?