This is for the in-person registration option for this course!

Can you imagine plunging suddenly into a completely different economic system? It happened to me. In this course we will examine the differences and commonalities between two different economic environments from personal experience. It will not be a lecture on economics, but a nonprofessional assessment of my own experiences mixed with knowledge learned through life and in school.

Living in a socialist country for 40 years and making the transition to the U.S. was a learning adventure, especially in economics. Life in East Germany was very regulated. Besides the daily necessities it was sometimes impossible to buy certain things. The economy, companies, and most small businesses were “owned by the people.” VEB—Volkseigene Betiebe—means in English people-owned companies, which wasn’t really true.

Coming into a country with a free market economy where you can buy anything, and living in an environment where many people focus their life on making money, was a new experience for me. Let’s analyse and discuss the properties of different economies in this course based on personal experience, and historical context in a HyFlex format.