Today my high school Economics students began viewing the terrific three-part PBS series, Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy. The first episode, “The Battle of Ideas,” pits John Maynard Keynes against Nobel laureate F. A. Hayek.  But not before seeing that brilliant Hayek vs. Keynes Rap.  They loved it!  Earlier in the week they received an essential background preparation by watching the excellent Mises Institute videos, Money, Banking and the Federal Reserve and Liberty and Economics: The Ludwig von Mises Legacy.  Mises, his seminar, and the Austrians are briefly discussed in Commanding Heights.

Note to Randroids:  Later in the course my Economics students will once again (for the 16th year) be asked to analyze the major characters in The Fountainhead, describing the archetypal virtue (e.g., integrity) or symbolic evil (e.g., lust for power) they represent.  Students will also compare and contrast Howard Roark from that classic film with the character portrayal of Preston Tucker from Tucker:  The Man and His Dream.

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