Economic workshop March 7 at JustGoods

From press release

Rockford Peace & Justice Action Committee and the Rockford Progressive Meetup will present an economic workshop titled “How the hell did we get into this mess?” at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 7, at JustGoods fair trade market, 201 Seventh St.

Bill Barclay of the Chicago Political Economy Group (CPEG) will lead participants through some basic economic tasks to arrive at a better understanding of the American economy.

Developed and taught by Barclay, the Economic Crisis Workshop is designed to teach, in understandable terms, how the U.S. arrived at our current economic crisis and to suggest some policies that we could adopt to reverse the economic downturn. It is a participatory workshop that has activities to enhance understanding and discussion. Participation is important and it will take about two hours to complete the full workshop.

The workshop describes three causes of the economic crisis: (1) long-term growth in inequality; (2) credit, debt and financial deregulation; and (3) the U.S. dollar and the World Economy. There are exercises and/or dialogues that are used in each case.

The program is free and open to the public. Call Stanley Campbell at (815) 964-7111 to register or for more information.

CPEG evolved from a Political Economy study group formed at Roosevelt University in Chicago more than 15 years ago. Members of CPEG include academics, political activists and others who have a serious interest in progressive political economy.

Visit www.cpegonline.org and see the workshop information (audience exercises, dialogues, etc.).