Economics Has Expanded My Political Views

My experiences in my economics class have greatly influenced my thinking and views of nearly every aspect of my life and life in general. Most notably, the principals and concepts I've learned in economics have greatly affected my views of contemporary politics. Before taking economics I had very strong conservative views on how the economy should be run and I believed the government only interfered with business, government involvement in the economy hindered economic growth, and I saw government programs as a complete waste of taxpayer dollars. In many ways the concepts I’ve learned in economics have strengthened these views but in other ways they’ve shaken my views and altered them for the better. To a large extent, it’s true that laissez faire policy in which the government doesn’t interfere with business is best for economic growth. It allows businesses to run more efficiently due to the lack of red tape. I’ve also learned in economics that free trade between self interested individuals will automatically mutually benefit both parties without any coordination or altruistic behavior. Thus my belief and support of the free markets has been affirmed in those ways by my economics class. However, my economics class also helped me realize that there are some necessary services that the free market can’t provide effectively such as protection from crime and health care. The government is needed to step in and provide police to keep cities safe and provide health care for those who are dying and can’t afford it. Due to the concepts I’m learning in economics, my political views have transformed. My views of politics were narrow, limited, and basically just inherited from my parents without me putting much thought into them. Today my vision of politics has broadened and my scope of contemporary politics has expanded. My economics class has supplied me with extra knowledge and I therefore expanded my political views.