Free Enterprise System

New Deal or Raw Deal?

The 20s Were The Good Dayz

Market Structures

Set to the instrumental of "Underground" by Necro.

I do not own the rights to this song, and this song will be used for educational purposes only.

Demand & Supply Bars

Soundbites from the following sources:

"Good Intentions" with Dr. Walter E. Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5TS8QUJWXo

"Sanders on the Minimum Wage and class warfare"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUSYHONPFTw

Debatin' the Wage

A "Flame" of Marxism by David Brady, Juicy James, Nasty Noah, and E-Mata

Economists With Attitude: A Cautionary Tale

The Elastic Slide (Feat. Hannah McGarvey)

This song delves into the Brexit debate, featuring soundbites from two individuals who I feel perfectly embody each side of the “Leave” and “Remain” debate, namely the British politician and Eurosceptic Nigel Farage (Leave) and former Prime Minster David Cameron (Remain).  The song is set up as a rap battle between a supporter of the “Remain” side and a supporter of the “Leave” side.  I loved writing this track, particularly because of how timely this issue is in terms of its economic and political relevance.  Each side rigorously puts forth arguments supporting each position, as well as attacking the position of the other side.  For example, the “Remain” rapper references that the UK would lose access to the Single Market and the free flow of capital, goods, services, and people, while the “Leave” rapper references that the EU has morphed into something entirely different from when the UK originally joined in 1973, infringing upon its state sovereignty.

Co-written with Josh Dalton and Nathaniel Smith

The Brexit Battle Rap (Leave or Remain?)

This track delves into the Free Trade vs. Protectionist debate, featuring soundbites from two individuals who I feel perfectly embody each side of this debate, namely the late economist Milton Friedman (Free Trade) and President Donald Trump (Protectionist).  The song is set up as a rap battle between a supporter of free trade and a supporter of protectionism.  This was a very fun track to write, particularly because of how timely this issue is in terms of its economic and political relevance.  Each side rigorously puts forth arguments supporting each position, as well as attacking the position of the other side.  For example, the free trade rapper references that trade is a positive-sum game and points out misunderstandings about the trade deficit, while the protectionist rapper references the infant industry argument, the national defense argument, and the outsourcing argument for protectionism.  One of the most popular tracks off of HipHoponomics Vol. 2 in terms of plays on SoundCloud, largely in part due to George Mason University economist Tyler Cowen (86,000 Twitter followers) retweeting the song as well as other economists, international trade lawyers, and trade journalists.

The Battle for Trade

Comparative Advantage

In this track, I seek to unpack Smith’s concept of the Division of Labor.  In Book I, Ch. III of The Wealth of Nations, Smith wrote, “As it is the power of exchanging that gives occasion to the division of labour, so the extent of this division must always be limited by the extent of that power, or, in other words, by the extent of the market.”  Duke University economist Mike Munger further expands this point, as he puts it, “As the number of potential customers you can reach expands, and the costs of shipping and handling fall, factories become fewer and larger. There is far more capital investment in these factories, but fewer workers. And output increases ten-fold, a hundred-fold, a billion-fold.”  In this track, I sought to convey that as free trade is able to expand, so then the Division of Labor is broken down into smaller and smaller tasks, with the result being dramatically increased productivity.

Division of Labor

According to economist Russ Roberts, "The deepest thing economists understand is emergent order–how order can emerge as the result of human action but without human design". This idea deeply fascinates me. Smith famously wrote, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." You'll notice that the first stanza of the track unpacks that idea. The 2nd stanza unpacks the famous "I, Pencil" essay by Leonard Read.  The final stanza is functions as a footnotes section, where I cite all the sources I have learned from over the years that inspired me to create this track.

Emergent Order

This track essentially summarizes the goals and thesis statement of the album. In short, the aim of this album is to lyrically distill the ideas of Scottish moral philosopher Adam Smith, who is regarded to be the “Father of Economics”. In his 1776 book “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations”, Smith began to write about the ideas that eventually blossomed into the discipline we today call economics. I have a soundbite in this song from an interview with economist Russ Roberts, who is an Adam Smith scholar and wrote the book, “How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life”, released in 2015. In this interview clip, Roberts introduces Adam Smith, and dispels the popular myth that Adam Smith was a promoter of greed and an “advocate for selfishness”. On the contrary, Roberts explains Smith was in no way a supporter of selfishness, but rather that Smith was a promoter of virtues such as prudence, justice, beneficence, and self-sufficiency. Smith’s reputation may be besmirched historically due to passages such as this one from "The Wealth of Nations", as Smith wrote, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.” In other words, the butcher could care less about you! He may have utter disdain for you, but because the butcher is self-interested, it is his own incentive to behave in a way towards you as if he had care for you. At the end of all this, the consumer comes away with a cut of sirloin, veal, or pork shoulder through voluntary exchange. The takeaway from this should not be that Smith was a praising selfishness, but rather that in an economic system of voluntary exchange, the private interest often serves the public good. Much of the discipline of economics flows out of this fundamental insight, which was initially put forth by Smith.

Here is the link to the full 15 minute interview with Russ Roberts on Adam Smith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbS8u-rY3hM&t=44s

Prelude- Who Was Adam Smith? (Feat. Russ Roberts)

Why Learn Economics? This is the audio track for the music video I created with Jacob Clifford (of ACDC Econ & Leadership) in San Diego in August 2017!  Check out the music video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxWDZGjNjlU

Yo, Why Learn Economics?

Email: gregory.caskey@gmail.com
Former Economics Teacher at Delaware Military Academy (2013-2018), now pursuing PhD in Economics. 

The economic way of thinking is a powerful tool, and I like to rap about that.

M.C. Caskey's 2nd album "HipHoponomics Vol 2: The Man, The Myth, Adam Smith" dropped on May 5th, 2017.

Album Artwork done by Tom Caskey.  
Album cover concept by Tom Caskey and M.C. Caskey.

M.C. Caskey

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