This is a talk I gave to the local Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, sponsored by California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). The local one is run by Michele Crompton and she does a great job. My topic was about things we should fear a lot and things we shouldn’t fear much. In the middle category was COVID-19. In the “not fear much” category were China (unless you live near China), terrorism, running out of land, genetically modified foods, getting shot by police, and global warming.
I’ll leave the “what we should fear a lot” to people who view the video.
You can read about Bernard Osher here.
If you ever get a chance to give an OLLI talk, I recommend it. The pay is low and, to do a good job, I usually put a fair amount of time into it. But I get articles and blog posts out of that work.
As important, I get a great audience. It tends to be older people and what I like about them is that they’re not a random pick. They tend to be quite curious and want to learn.
My take on the locals, after giving about 6 of these over the last approximately 8 years, is that they like me but don’t necessarily like my message, especially on this topic. But they ask good questions and it’s a highly civil discussion. Moreover, many of them know a lot.
My first OLLI talk was titled “The Cost of War.” My usual style with an audience is to ask questions as I go. It worked really well with that audience. Each time I asked a question of an audience of about 30 people, 5 or 6 hands would go up and I would call on someone randomly who would invariably get the answer right. (As I recall, my early questions were about World War I.) After about the third one, I paused and said, “I love talking to people who know things.”
READER COMMENTS
Thomas Hutcheson
Nov 27 2020 at 8:12pm
Framing this as what to “fear” seems misplaced. One makes estimates of different contingencies and takes actions to increase the net outcomes.
The constant increase in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have net negative consequences of greater or lesser magnitude. Carbon taxes of different trajectories minimize the costs these changes.
A growing size of the Chinese economy relative to the US can hardly be good for American or world liberty. I would be prudent to increase immigration even more than would be optimal just in order to raise per capita. Reducing trade barriers even with China would also be prudent, although the China factor probably increases the use of agreements like the TPP as a vehicle for such reductions. Greater investment in basic research and a shift from income to consumption taxation leading to small structural consolidated public sector deficits would be wise to raise the national savings and investment rates to become a net capital exporter.
But these or other prudent responses to GM foods, terrorian, COVID, policing reform, land use planning have everything to do with cost benefit analysis and almost nothing to do with “fear”
Andy Weintraub
Nov 27 2020 at 8:53pm
I’ve, too, have been teaching at Lifetime and Lifelong Learning Insitutues (LLI’s) at Vassar College and at Bard College (in New York’s Hudson Valley) for the last ten years or so. As a former economics professor at Temple University for twenty seven years, I can say that teaching in the LLI programs has been considerably more rewarding than teaching at the university level. The students, needless to say, are considerably more mature, are there because they want to be there, d0 their homework and more, and ask really intelligent questions. I, too, find that they don’t necessarily like my message – about half of them anyway – but they do come back for more.
David Henderson
Nov 28 2020 at 10:48am
Thanks, Andy.
A question: The homework I give them in advance tends to be 2 or 3 short readings so that they are likely to read them because they’re not overwhelmed. What homework do you give?
andy weintraub
Nov 28 2020 at 9:27pm
My “homework” for LLI students is usually short readings from the likes of Econlib.org, Cafe Hayek, Marginal Revolution, The Grumpy Economist, The Big Question, The Convertible Economist, Askblog – do you see a pattern here? – as well as Greg Mankiw, Money Illusion and Carpe Diem.
Most of them have not had an economics course and are decidedly left of center, at least at the beginning of the semester.
I focus on the basics: supply and demand and the role of prices.
David Henderson
Nov 28 2020 at 10:11pm
Sweet!
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