Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation
For Immediate Release
Monday, January 11, 2010
202-285-0244
www.freedomandprosperity.org
CF&P Unveils “Economics 101” Series with Video
Teaching About “Moral Hazard”
(Washington, D.C., Monday, January 11, 2010) A new video released today by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation (CF&P) is the first in their “Economics 101” video series, a project designed to educate students, young people, and the general public about basic free market principles. This first video deals with the concept of “Moral Hazard.”
Links to the video: YouTube | Yahoo | Capitol Hub
n this CF&P Foundation video, entitled “Economics 101: Moral Hazard,” Nicole Kurokawa of the Independent Women’s Forum explains the concept of moral hazard, which occurs when bad policies give people incentives to make imprudent choices. She explains how government intervention created moral hazard in the housing market by subsidizing bad mortgages. This, in turn, produced a housing bubble followed by a financial crisis.
“We are very pleased with our new Economics 101 video series,” commented CF&P Foundation President Andrew Quinlan . “This first video will help people – especially students – realize that even well-intentioned laws can create bad incentives,” added Quinlan.
Executive summary:
This CF&P Foundation’s Economics 101 video discusses the concept of “Moral Hazard,” which occurs when bad choices are subsidized. This often happens when government intervention lets people take risks while having little or no “skin in the game.” Housing policies, for instance, subsidized mortgages, thus enabling irresponsible borrowing and leading to bubbles and bailouts. Politicians may be setting the stage for the next crisis with a “too big to fail” policy that will subsidize the biggest financial institutions.
CF&P Foundation has also released more than two-dozen mini-documentaries since 1997. These videos include Tax Competition Primer, VAT-Hidden Tax, Global Flat Tax Revolution, Cutting the U.S. Corporate Income Tax, Promoting Prosperity, Obama’s So-Called Stimulus, Obama’s Deferral Proposal, Case Against Class-Warfare Tax Policy, President Obama’s Dishonest Demagoguery on Tax Havens, a three part series on the Benefits of Tax Havens and a another three-part series on the Laffer Curve.
Link: http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/videos/videos.shtml
Web Links to Moral Hazard Video:
Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SdtoKeFTi0
Yahoo
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/6758604/17563698
Capitol Hub
http://capitolhub.com/video/9245/economics-101-moral-hazard
For additional comments:
Nicole Kurokawa at 202-419-1820, nkurokawa@iwf.org
Andrew Quinlan can be reached at 202-285-0244, andy@freedomandprosperity.org
Dan Mitchell can be reached at 202-218-4615, dmitchell@cato.org
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