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In Search of the Perfect Elective

An Artsy Elective

Economics and entertainment are not often mentioned in the same sentence, but Richard E. Caves, Popes professor of political economy, aims to explore the connection in Economics 1630: "Economics and the Arts."

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Students will study the structure of deals and contract theory by analyzing the combination of acting, writing and contractual forces in the performing arts.

Additional lectures will focus on public policy issues, including whether the performing arts should be subsidized and if foreign countries should promote native works by discouraging the importation of American works.

"It deals with some questions about economics that are just not touched anywhere else," Caves says. "Normally we worry about the GNP or about the Internet or about respectable industries like pharmaceuticals... It's an application of economics to a corner that doesn't usually see much economics."

What IS he wearing?

Sociology 150: "The Social Underpinnings of Taste" investigates the way in which our tastes are influenced by social factors, such as class, politics, age and education.

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