AGENDA Wed 1/25 & Thurs 1/26
• QOD #6: Self-Interest
• Review Essays
• Review Chapter 1 Quiz
• “Greed is Good”
• HW: pg 42 #1-8; pg 45 #2-5
▫ Study for Chapter 2 Quiz Tues 1/31 & Wed 2/1
QOD #6: Self-Interest
“Self-interest is selfish, greedy and not in
the best interest of our market economy.”
▫ Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
▫ Give specific examples to support your opinion.
• After watching the “Greed is Good” speech,
is there a difference between greed and
self-interest?
Greed (1999)
• The Pervasiveness of Human Greed
▫ Segment 1a (Part 1 of 6)
▫ Segment 1b (Part 2 of 6)
• Greed and Civilization
▫ Segment 2a (Part 3 of 6)
▫ Segment 2b (Part 4 of 6)
• Greed and the Economic Pie
▫ Segment 3a (Part 5 of 6)
▫ Segment 3b (Part 6 of 6)
The pervasiveness of Human Greed
1. What market activities were presented in the segment?
2. If greed in some measure seems to be a rather universal
human characteristic, is it possible to channel it or direct it to
achieve good results or socially acceptable/desirable ends?
Explain.
3. It’s an August afternoon and 85˚ outside. You leave the
tennis court, walk past the drinking fountain and spend a
dollar on a soft drink. Is this a market transaction? Would it
be fair to describe it as voluntary? Who wins in the
exchange?
4. Should the government have prevented Thomas Edison from
selling the electric light bulb because it unfairly put the candle
makers out of business?
Greed and Civilization
1. Why does competition inspire people to pursue excellence?
2. The poet John Donne said, “No man is an island, entire of
itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the
main…” Remembering Stossel’s steak dinner, explain what
would happen to your standard of living if you were to live a
completely self-sufficient life style. What would you spend
most of your time doing? What products that you now own
could you create yourself?
3. Why do so many people believe societal problems are caused
by greed?
4. The “junk bond king” Michael Milken, went to jail in the
1980s. How was Milken a great social benefactor?
5. How does the economic logic of the money bowl and common
ownership help explain why certain species are threatened
with extinction?
Greed and the Economic Pie
1. What is it that T.J. Rodgers and other CEOs like Michael
Eisner or Jack Welch at General Electric do to earn their pay?
2. As a student working a part-time job, do you deserve your
minimum-wage pay level?
3. Would it ever be logical—be in your best interest—to turn
down a pay raise?
4. What effect might progressive taxation, or increasingly higher
tax rates, have for the incentives to create wealth?
5. If Bangladesh unionized its entire work force, would its
standard of living change?
6. Is greed compatible with good citizenship? Explain.
7. List several factors that determine economic growth.