Understanding the Boom Bust Cycle
Session 4

2021-03-01 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Henry George School of Social Science
Phone:(212) 889-8020
Address: 149 East 38th Street, New York, NY 10016

UNDERSTANDING THE BOOM BUST CYCLE

Why do recessions occur in capitalist economies on a recurrent basis? Is there a single explanatory cause?

In this 5-session course on the Boom and Bust Cycle, emeritus professor of Economics Dr. Fred Foldvary investigates the link between real estate and economic downturns otherwise known as business cycles. The course will revisit Homer Hoyt’s pioneering work as well as the role of money and interest rates in causing land bubbles.

Session 1: Real estate and the business cycle

Session 2: Mason Gaffney on downturns

Session 3: Homer Hoyt and the cycle

Session 4: Money, interest, and the cycle

Session 5: American land bubbles

Instructor Bio: 
Fred Foldvary is a retired professor of economics . He received his Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University. Foldvary’s scholarly interests include public finance, real estate economics, and social ethics. Foldvary is known for his research and publications on land value taxation, community associations, and business cycles. His books include The Soul of Liberty, Public Goods and Private Communities, Dictionary of Free-Market Economics, and The Depression of 2008. Besides his articles, Fred Foldvary has written columns for www.progress.org and is one the few economists who predicted the 2007 – 2008 financial crisis.

Dates: Mondays – 2/1, 2/8, 2/22, 3/1, 3/8
Time: 6:30PM to 8:00PM EST

5 sessions
A zoom link will be provided via email before the start of the first session.

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    REGISTER NOW

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    This 10-session course will examine how the aristocratic perspective persists as the shadow side of environmental economics in its treatment of common property, the valuation of natural goods, the treatment of people as costs or sources of destruction, an urban bias that denigrates rural life, an indifference to both equity and efficiency, and the critique of economic growth. The course will also analyze how Georgism can serve as the antidote by democratizing claims to nature. The course will further highlight the work of early thinkers like Aldo Leopold and their perception of nature as something of intrinsic value that transcends human ambitions.

    The instructor, Clifford Cobb is the thematic editor, American Journal of Economics and Sociology. He is best known as the developer of the Genuine Progress Indicator, published by the San Francisco organization, Redefining Progress.

    Dates: Mondays – 3/03, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31, 4/07, 4/14, 4/28, 5/12, 5/19

    Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM ET

    Location: Online via Zoom

    Note: This is an online event. After registration, the Zoom link, along with the Meeting ID and Passcode, will be provided via email the day of each session.

    REGISTER NOW

  • 2025-05-19 6:30 pm - 2025-05-19 8:00 pm

    From an Aristocratic to a Democratic Worldview: The Potential Transformation of Environmental Economics by Georgism

    The environmental perspective arose in Europe out of an aristocratic background, and it continues to be swayed by that history. From Thomas Malthus, economics inherited a very strong sense of the scarcity of nature. Since common lands in England were under the control of aristocrats, they considered it their mission to preserve nature for the enjoyment of future generations of aristocratic families. Almost every nature program on television promotes this worldview of pristine nature being damaged by the activities of common people and being preserved by the nobility. The story of Robin Hood emerged as a counter-narrative, but the economics profession turned it into a morality lesson that celebrates the sheriff of Nottingham.

    This 10-session course will examine how the aristocratic perspective persists as the shadow side of environmental economics in its treatment of common property, the valuation of natural goods, the treatment of people as costs or sources of destruction, an urban bias that denigrates rural life, an indifference to both equity and efficiency, and the critique of economic growth. The course will also analyze how Georgism can serve as the antidote by democratizing claims to nature. The course will further highlight the work of early thinkers like Aldo Leopold and their perception of nature as something of intrinsic value that transcends human ambitions.

    The instructor, Clifford Cobb is the thematic editor, American Journal of Economics and Sociology. He is best known as the developer of the Genuine Progress Indicator, published by the San Francisco organization, Redefining Progress.

    Dates: Mondays – 3/03, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31, 4/07, 4/14, 4/28, 5/12, 5/19

    Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM ET

    Location: Online via Zoom

    Note: This is an online event. After registration, the Zoom link, along with the Meeting ID and Passcode, will be provided via email the day of each session.

    REGISTER NOW