Somehow we went from ordering food to my discussing basic economics and why I think it should be a required subject. Economics at Japanese universities seems to be a very diverse subject, with
Keynesians,
Marxians,
Ricardans and even
supply-siders, although I can't say I've met anyone from the
Austrian school here yet.
This is an English class, though, not economics, although a little basic English vocabulary about economics probably wouldn't be a bad subject for you to learn. I studied economics when
Paul Samuelson wrote the standard textbook in the US.
Milton Friedman and
John Kenneth Galbraith defined the right and left of US economics respectively, but they're both dead now, as is Paul Samuelson. Economics has moved on, and I was never really an expert, anyway, I just knew enough to follow stories and discuss it intelligently, or at least try to discuss it intelligently.
Some of my favorite economists working today include
Amartya Sen, a Nobel Prize winning development economist with some original and challenging ideas, and
Paul Krugman, another Nobel Prize winner
who writes for the New York Times. They are both controversial, but even if you don't agree with them you can't ignore their ideas, which are always interesting and thought provoking. I recommend you read something they wrote if you are interested in development economics or the problems of contemporary policy.
Do you read any economists? How do you get information about the economy? Can you tell us about Japanese economists? I'd like you to link to some source(s) of economic information, but I don't know if you have any sources in English.
The Wall Street Journal is sort of the
日本経済新聞 of the United States. Even people who don't read their editorials trust their information. AAMOF, I was just reading
one of their articles before posting this to the blog.
What can you find about economics on the Internet, preferably in English, and what can you tell us about it?
