Economics from a Non-Economist Perspective - Where it has been, where it is, and where it may be going

In simplistic ways, any economy is a human activity that involves the sharing of resources between those who have and those that need. The pre-Neolithic Age, our hunter-gatherer ancestors had an economy based upon needs of immediacy and a necessary will to travel. Starting around 3,500 BCE with the Neolithic Age, humans formed communities that involved division of labor centered around agriculture. If these societies were to be successful, they had to plan for their futures based upon the resources at hand. Today, our world economies have grown toward a complexity that many believe are unsustainable. Many organizations such as the United Nations Agenda 21, the Islamic Community's Rabat Declaration on Environment Protection, and Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si are raising concerns about our present economic activity. This class will explore the roots of humanity's attempts to organize people's work and production of resources, where this econom is at now, and where it may/must evolve to.