The Battles for Power Within the Parties

In the Democratic Party, the moderate establishment faces a growing populist insurgency, sparked by the election of Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. Will that conflict surface in the competition for the Democratic presidential nomination? How will it play out in Congress? In the Republican Party, the conflict is out in the open, and both sides have drawn their swords. On one side are Karl Rove, the Republican National Committee, the U.S. Chamber and the business community generally. On the other side there are Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the Tea Party, the Heritage Foundation and other ideologically conservative think tanks. This struggle will be in the center of the fight for the Republican presidential nomination and will infuse a host of primary contests for offices at every level of government.

Here are the slides (1mb file).

The Coming Presidential Election

The 2016 will be a test of the viability of the emerging Democratic coalition capitalizing on the rise of the minority electorate and of the competitiveness of a once-powerful Republican coalition heavily dependent on white voters. Who are the contenders for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations? What are their chances? What are their strategies? Looking past the nomination process to the general election: what are the possible match-ups? Will the Electoral College favor either party?

Here are the slides (2mb file).

Inequality

The issue of inequality has for the first time since the Great Depression moved to the forefront of the debate. The discussion can be confusing and difficult to follow. This lecture will attempt to make the issue more accessible. How is the contemporary rise in inequality different from inequality in the past? How do you measure inequality and why does it matter? What are the roles of education, globalization, computerization/robotization, and the loss of middle class jobs in the growing disparity of income between the rich and the poor? What are the political consequences? Are government attempts to remedy inequality effective or do they worsen conditions?

Here are the slides (2mb file).

Polarization and the Evolving Democratic Party

Since the 1960s, what can be broadly described as the “knowledge class” has gained leverage within the Democratic Party. This is the class that shaped, and was shaped by, the civil rights, anti-war, feminist and gay rights movements, as well as by the broader sexual, information, and multicultural revolutions. The focus of these Democrats is on goals of self-actualization and personal autonomy, and they are intensely hostile to agendas of imposed moral orthodoxy. The knowledge class dominates Democratic policy and plays the major role in writing the party platform. This class has been the driving force behind the shift in American partisan competition from economic conflict in elections from the 1930s to the 1960s to increasingly culturally based conflicts now. Still, for a majority of less well-off Democratic voters, economic matters are of preeminent importance. What are the implications of this split within the Democratic party for the future of American politics?

Here are the slides (7mb file).
 

Book Reviewing

As literary genres go, the book review is actually fairly recent, with reviews as we know them starting to appear only in the 19th century. It may also be a genre in decline, as reviews no longer matter quite as much as they once did. We’ll talk about why that’s so, as we talk about how the form evolved. We’ll also talk about what makes a good review and a good reviewer. Can anyone do it, as Amazon and some websites seem to suggest? Or is it a more specialized skill, and if so, how does one acquire it?

Editor vs. Writer

Most editors can write after a fashion, and most writers have been on the receiving end of the blue pencil often enough to have some notion of how to wield. But there aren’t many people who have been both great editors and great writers. We’ll talk about where the two skills overlap and where they don’t. What makes a good writer, what makes a good editor, and to what degree can editors and writers help one another? Or to put it another way, are editors, as some writers believe, always the enemy?

The Short Story

You could make a case that the second half of the 20th century was the golden age of the short story. We’ll talk about the role played by popular magazines in the development of the form during those years, and in particular the role played by The New Yorker. And we’ll explore the differences between the story and longer forms like the novel and novella. Writers discussed will most likely include Cheever, O’Hara, Updike, Trevor, Alice Munro, Edna O’Brien, and Lorrie Moore.

The Fate of Reading

When they’re our age, will our grandchildren still read, and if so what? We’ll talk about the past and future of reading, and explore the ways the computer and the internet have already changed the way books are published, sold and read, not to mention how they’ve altered our own attention spans and ability to concentrate.
 

The Maya: Emergence of a Rainforest Civilization

How did this unique and captivatingly artistic culture spring out of the difficult rainforest environment in the Yucatan Peninsula? What were their (now newly understood) religious beliefs? We’ll look at the recent startling discovery of the San Bartolo murals in Guatemala to understand Maya ideas about the universe, cosmology and rulership. The Early Classic Maya used architecture and stucco decoration to impart their vital ideas about the cosmos. The development of a unique and startlingly artistic and sophisticated system of hieroglyphic writing that is just being fully interpreted gives us a window on the political history of the Maya region.

Here are the slides (148mb file).

War, Power, Art, and Sacrifice in the Classic Maya City State

The powerful Maya dynasties of the Peten Rainforest were entangled in war, vassalage, and intermarriage. We’ll look at the history that’s still being uncovered, and the architecture that marks each cities’ importance and role. From the early emergence of the grand city of Tikal and its rival Calakmul, to the hieroglyphic stairways at Copan and Dzibanche, and the bizarrely massive stelae and zoomorphs of Quirigua, we’ll learn about the style and art of the Maya. The war between Copan and Quirigua resulted, for instance, in spectacular artworks. The role of human sacrifice in the culture will appear clearly in the context of the artworks and writing.

Here are the slides (183mb file).

The Maya Jungle: Where the Wild Things Were, and Are!

The Maya lived in a complex and challenging ecological environment, and today it’s amazing to believe a rainforest harbored a huge population in ancient times. How did they accomplish this? What did they subsist upon, and how did they manage their resources — or did they? The Maya saw the rainforest animals and plants as manifestations of spirits, metaphors for the earth, or companion spirits of people. Turtles were represented as the earth’s surface, jaguars emblemized royal power and the night sun, and corn was a personified deity. Snakes, caimans, bats, monkeys and macaws, trees and even centipedes figure in the art, symbolism and myth of the Maya.

Here are the slides (182mb file).

The Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization: A Mystery Unspooled

The so-called Classic Maya Collapse is much talked about but generally oversimplified. Maya power waned in the Central Peten region, and was followed by the emergence of other city states on the periphery of the center. Powerful and vast cities like Chichen Itza came to power and had new styles of art and new connections with central Mexico. But what led to the collapse of the Maya elite culture which built massive stone pyramids, created elaborate stone reliefs, colorful pottery and jade luxury goods? Perhaps there are lessons for us, as we learn how ecological exploitation, overreliance on luxury goods and trade, and overburdening workers with tasks for the elites helped to lead to the downfall of a unique way of life.

Here are the slides (185mb file).
 

Debt and Taxes: How Pressing a Problem is the U.S. National Debt?

Data show that the U.S. national debt has risen substantially in recent years. Most economists agree that growth in government debt should be curtailed and that eventual debt reduction is a good idea. But how urgent is the problem of government debt? In this talk, I first explain basic debt concepts and review historical data that describes the growth in our national debt. I then explain how an economist looks at debt in general and government debt in particular. Finally, I ask whether the U.S. is near a debt “tipping point,” a level of debt so high that debt reduction becomes very difficult if not impossible.

Here are the slides (2mb file).

All That Glitters is Not Gold: Money Through the Ages

Money is a social contract that lowers the cost of trading and has evolved over time. Early societies used well known commodities as money. Gradually a desire for efficient transactions led societies to use coined metals, especially gold and silver, as money. After World War II, the U.S. dollar became the “paper gold” for the world until the U.S. left the gold standard in the early ’70s. Would the U.S. be better off today if it returned to the gold standard? Should the U.S. embrace alternative forms of money such as the bitcoin?

Here are the slides (2mb file).

Should We Fire the Fed? Has the Federal Reserve Behaved Responsibly in Recent Years?

The Federal Reserve typically conducts monetary policy by raising and lowering short maturity interest rates. However, during the Great Contraction the Federal Reserve undertook extraordinary measures to stimulate the economy. In this talk, I first explain how the Fed changes short term interest rates and why changes in short term rates can affect the economy. I next explain the extraordinary policy measures that the Fed undertook during the Great Contraction, consider whether those measures were wise or unwise, and ask whether the extraordinary policies measures will produce inflation in coming years.

Here are the slides (2mb file).