Chapter 23

I really enjoyed taking this course both because of the textbook, which I found to be engaging and easy to understand, as well as the assignments which allowed for critical thinking in the homework and quizzes, the personal expression in the reflections, and interesting through interaction and learning other opinions in the discussions. I also really appreciated that the book proposed a list of important concepts at its beginning that it then liked back to in every chapter.

The concepts and theories that I found most interesting were the ones that I could relate to my everyday life and society. For this reason my favorite concepts were the ones related to political theories because I find these very interesting and would consider politics one of my most passionate subjects because of the influence they have on all of us and the choices they make for our benefit. I was also very interested in the concepts of unemployment, as a student who is concerned about my future career, and monetary policies and the financial system because it is something I am involved in everyday and yet know very little about. My thinking changed in areas that I feel I was not fully aware of before reading the book, such as debates over certain topics, such as the ideas in Chapter 23, and especially taxation because I think there are many benefits and negatives to it and hadn’t thought or even known about them before Chapter 8. I also found the benefits of international trade very interesting because of how often I am pushed to buy local and had never thought of the opposition to it.

In Chapter 23 the debate I found most interesting was whether tax laws should be reformed to encourage saving. I found that it initially proposed a benefit for everyone by protecting their money by saving, however the argument was that thus protects wealthier people more because they are more focused on saving which I had not thought of and I think makes a great argument. For this reason I agree with the con side, although I initially hadn’t, because I think there are more important ways that tax laws should be reformed to benefit everyone.

Overall, I found that I learned a lot through this course and am very happy I decided to take it! Thank you!