Are prescription drug prices as outrageous as they are made out to be? Should farmers receive government subsidies, simply because they grow certain crops? What does it mean to be poor in America? This compilation of ABC News stories features 20/20 anchor John Stossel, who explores microeconomic questions through challenging, real-world examples. In his trademark down-to-earth style, Stossel digs into human dilemmas that will be sure to generate discussions of money, business, and society. A viewable/printable instructor’s guide is available online.

The episodes are:

·        Costs and Benefits of Government Regulation: Opportunity Costs, Trade-offs, and Secondary Effects: This segment weighs marginal costs against marginal benefits, using the example of seat belt installation in school buses. John Graham of the Harvard Center for Statistical Analysis is interviewed.

·        Is Sharing Good? Economics of Private Property Rights: This segment explores private and common property rights and how both relate to individual incentive and the utilization of resources. A discussion of hunting rights in Africa reinforces these concepts.

·        Greed: Gains from Trade and Wealth Creation: Profiling well-known practitioners of worldly gain—the Vanderbilt family, most notably—this segment presents one way to look at greed: as the force behind a healthy economy.

·        Why Steak Gets to New York: Market Coordination and the Invisible Hand: From raising and slaughtering beef in Iowa to its consumption in New York City, this segment illustrates market coordination and Adam Smith’s “invisible hand.”

·        Rent Control: Price Controls: Using New York City’s housing policy as an example, this segment asserts that rent control helps mostly high-income families—in other words, those whose privileges enable them to abuse the system.

·        Pharmaceutical Prices: Profits, Price Controls, and Secondary Effects: With an eye on the pharmaceutical industry, this segment addresses the impact of price controls—demonstrating that drug research is almost prohibitively expensive and must be covered by revenues from existing products.

·        Flood Insurance: Subsidies and Secondary Effects: Analyzing government-subsidized insurance, John Stossel recounts his disastrous experience with oceanfront property. James Lee Witt, former FEMA director, explains government insurance subsidies.

·        Farm Subsidies: Subsidies and Political Behavior: Visiting a California cotton farm, this segment investigates the impact of farm subsidies. Interviews with the owners lead to questions about the wisdom of farm subsidy policies.

·        Wal-Mart: Competition and Costs: Exploring competition, overhead, and cost of living, this segment asks: Does a company like Wal-Mart exploit workers in the U.S. and abroad? Or, by lowering prices, does it give consumers what amounts to a raise?

·        Poverty and Entrepreneurship: This segment profiles Steve Mariotti, a teacher in a struggling New York high school who introduced entrepreneurial principles into his classroom. Philosopher David Kelley is also featured.

·        Do Women Make Less Money? Wage Discrimination: This segment offers a discussion of wage discrimination, including conversations with Martha Burk, head of the National Council of Women’s Organizations and author of Cult of Power, and Warren Farrell, former N.O.W. board member and author of The Myth of Male Power.

·        Underage Batboy: Regulation of Labor Markets: Relating the story of a batboy who was prevented from working because of strict child labor laws, this segment inquires into the government’s role in regulating labor markets.

·        Ted Turner Gives to UN: Investment and Property: In this segment, entrepreneur T.J. Rodgers and scholar David Kelley react to Ted Turner’s billion-dollar gift to UN charities. They argue that Turner’s money would have been better spent on creating jobs through business investment.

·        Is Making Money Good or Bad? The Role of Profits and Losses: Featuring an interview with T.J. Rodgers, founder of Cypress Semiconductor, this segment highlights the role of the profit motive and its widespread benefits.

·        Poverty in the U.S.: Heading into the streets of the South Bronx, historically an icon of urban decay, this segment questions the official definition of poverty and the ways it is often measured.

·        School Choice: Education and the Role of Competition: Exploring the economics behind the controversial issue of school vouchers, this segment describes how more education options, both public and private, could help parents and students.

75 minutes.