OAKLAND, CA—Do you know a teenager or young adult who could benefit from attending a stimulating, week-long class about economics, social issues, and government? The 2006 Liberty, Economy & Society Summer Seminars—to be held June 26-30 and August 7-11 in Oakland, Calif.—help high-school and college students prepare for academic life and beyond with a stimulating combination of lectures, videos, directed readings, and small-group discussion about such issues as job creation, trade and globalization, economic development, child labor, the environment, inflation and recession, the Internet, entrepreneurship and innovation, regulation, and much more.

“I have found that using short clips from popular movies and television is a very effective way to teach young people about basic economics and to show its relationship to larger issues about government and society,” said economist Brian Gothberg, the chief instructor of the seminars. “Many students have told me that the seminar is not only informative, but also lots of fun!”

Although students learn about a large number of issues, the seminar is designed to make these issues comprehensible by relating them to a few key themes, such as competition versus monopoly, the role of consumers, the profit motive, centralization versus decentralization, and the role of incentives in determining economic and political outcomes. Also, the supportive, small-class atmosphere ensures that students get all of their concerns addressed thoroughly.

In addition to seminar leader Brian Gothberg, who teaches economics and history at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, the faculty will include economics instructors from San Jose State University and Santa Clara University. A field trip to San Francisco is included, which will show how economic principles help students understand the city’s development and problems.

The seminar is sponsored by and held at the Independent Institute, an internationally recognized public policy “think tank” based in Oakland, Calif.

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