Many issues face our society that have no simple solution.
They are essentially intractable problems that every society must deal with in some way or another. Due to the interconnected nature of society, it sometimes seems as if every attempt to deal with an issue merely causes the problem to reemerge in some new form, or to cause some unforseeable problem to emerge at a later time. Indeed, attempts to deal with these issues can even increase conflict between groups because a solution which benefits one group of people may place unacceptable burdens on some other segment of society. The objective of this course is to become familiar with some of these social issues, the alternative solutions that have been proposed and applied over time, and the basic principles of economic theory useful in the study of social issues. Heilbroner, Robert and William Milberg.