Dukes & Wonks

One of my GPOSC students sent me two links that are very much worth sharing. Here is an interesting graphic from the Dangerous Minds people comparing the Occupy Wall Street movement with the Tea Party. And for those who want to delve more into how redistricting and gerrymandering works, there is the cool Redistricting Game created by the Annenberg Foundation that demonstrates the intricacies of creating new electoral district maps. (Unfortunately, as with so topics, I did not have as much time as I would have liked to discuss redistricting in class.)

Since we are sharing, here are some more resources for those who want to dive a bit further into U.S. government goodness:

Over the last couple of days, NPR’s Morning Edition featured stories about economic thinkers that fuel current political debates, including installments on Friedrich Hayek (“Austrian Economist Hayek Finds New Friends”) and John Maynard Keynes (“Keynes’ Consuming Ideas on Economic Intervention”). Two short (6-7 minutes) installements that you can download and listen to on the go. Plus, the Keynes piece links to a dorky rap by a GMU econ professor. If 6-7 minutes are not enough for you, C-SPAN has an hour-long discussion between author Nicholas Wapshott and Economist business editor Matthew Bishop on Wapshott’s book about Hayek and Keynes (you can download an audio-only version of the program here). If you’re in my class and revising your letter to your representative, these resources might be useful as a refresher on basic arguments about economic policies.

Talking about C-SPAN, since September the Podcast of the Week program has included installments on past presidential contenders that failed to win the presidency (here is the itunes link for the podcasts, and here is the link to subscribe to the podcast in other feedreaders). It’s remarkable to see how accomplished, as politicians, these failed contenders were – definitely more accomplished than much of our current batch of failed and successful contenders. Why would that be…

~ by Andreas Broscheid on November 17, 2011.

Posted in Campaigns & Elections, Economic Policy, Presidency