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<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><EM>PLEASE CIRCULATE! THANKS.
</EM></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><EM>If you have ever asked
yourself...<BR> What's the Economy For,
Anyway?<BR> What should a well-functioning
economy do?<BR> What's behind lower wages
and longer working hours?<BR>
Should we, ordinary folk have any say in running our own economy?
</EM></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT
face=Arial><EM> How do we build a more
just and sustainable economy?<BR></EM><BR>...then this course is for
you!<BR><BR><STRONG><FONT size=3>What's The Economy For, Anyway? The Case for a
Solidarity Economy and Social Wealth</FONT><BR></STRONG></DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>An Online Course offered by the Center for
Popular Economics <BR></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>Summer Session I (June 2 - July 10,
2008)<BR>Course Fee: $900 for THREE Univ. of Massachusetts Credits or $400 for
non-credit students.<BR>40-60 Professional Development Points (in MA) or
3.6 Continuing Education Credits (outside MA) available.<BR>Limited scholarships
available for non-credit students.<BR><BR>The <A
href="http://www.populareconomics.org">Center for Popular Economics</A>, in
collaboration with the Forum on Social Wealth and the Political Economy Research
Institute at Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst is offering a special topics
3-credit online course (Econ 197) this Summer. The course runs from Monday, June
2nd till Thursday July 10th. No background in Economics is required. The course
is suited for students as well as activists and community members who want to
learn more about the economy. Please see attached flyer and course outline or
visit </FONT><A
href="http://www.populareconomics.org/WTEF_Online_Course.html"><FONT
face=Arial>http://www.populareconomics.org/WTEF_Online_Course.html</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>. An overview of the course is presented below. For more details
contact Amit Basole at <A href="mailto:abasole@gmail.com">abasole@gmail.com</A>
or Emily Kawano at <A
href="mailto:emily@populareconomics.org">emily@populareconomics.org</A>.<BR><BR>Overview:
"The Economy" is often portrayed in the media and by politicians as a force of
nature that we must adapt to or perish. But we, the ordinary people make our
economy tick. Shouldn't we have a say in how it is run and to what purpose? This
online course raises the questions: what purpose do we want our economy to
fulfill? Is it fulfilling this purpose today? If not, what can we do about it?
What resources do we have available in order to effect our changes?<BR><BR>The
course is comprised of three main parts. Part One takes a look at the
performance of the current economic model, known to economists as
"Neoliberalism." Although our economic model has allowed unprecedented
accumulation of wealth by a few, for the majority of us it has meant falling or
stagnant wages, longer work hours, rising healthcare costs, and deterioration of
our natural and social environment. We start with a look at the historical roots
of neoliberalism and then try to understand the economics behind it.<BR><BR>In
Part Two, we start talking about how some of the things that we saw going wrong
in Part One can be set right. In the midst of growing inequality and corporate
power, many grassroots economic alternatives have been springing up throughout
the U.S. as well as the rest of the world. This is the new "Solidarity Economy."
Grounded in principles of economic democracy, social solidarity, cooperation,
egalitarianism, and sustainability, this is an alternative to the Neoliberal
vision of the economy. In this part of the course we will look at some examples
of such alternatives as well as understand the economics behind
them.<BR><BR>Building alternatives requires resources. But part of the
neoliberal agenda is the diverting of economic resources into fewer and fewer
hands. Where will the resources for alternatives come from? In Part Three we
talk about a vast store of assets that communities everywhere possess and on
which they can draw for constructing alternatives. This store, which we call
"social wealth" consists of our cultural and ecological commons and our capacity
to work for those we care about. We will also look at how the economics of the
care economy or the cultural commons differs from the economics of
corporations.<BR><BR><BR><IMG alt="Cpe Summer Class Flyer" hspace=0
src="http://www.populareconomics.org/CPE_online_small.JPG" align=bottom
border=0><BR><BR>--<BR>Amit Basole<BR>Department of Economics<BR>Thompson
Hall<BR>University of Massachusetts<BR>Amherst, MA 01003<BR>Phone:
413-665-2463<BR></FONT><A href="http://www.people.umass.edu/abasole/"><FONT
face=Arial>http://www.people.umass.edu/abasole/</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial>blogs: </FONT><A href="http://www.mehr-e-niimroz.org/"><FONT
face=Arial>http://www.mehr-e-niimroz.org/</FONT></A></FONT></DIV>
<P><FONT size=2><BR><A href="http://maanasarovar.blogspot.com/"><FONT
face=Arial>http://maanasarovar.blogspot.com/</FONT></A><BR></P></FONT>
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