ESL lesson plan | C1 | Can capitalism be good?

Summary

This downloadable PDF lesson plan for English teachers explores progressive capitalism. This advanced ESL class material uses a video interview with Joseph Stiglitz to spark discussion on economics, focusing on key vocabulary and grammar for structuring arguments.

This comprehensive C1 ESL lesson delves into the concept of progressive capitalism. Students begin with a discussion on economic systems, then watch an interview with Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz to analyze contrasting views. Activities include vocabulary matching and gap-fills, a grammar focus on using cleft sentences for emphasis, and learning useful phrases for debate.

The lesson culminates in a structured debate where students argue for or against progressive capitalism, applying all the language they've learned.

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Activities

Students begin by discussing their opinions on core capitalist principles, activating their prior knowledge and setting the stage for the lesson's main themes of wealth, inequality, and government intervention.
Students watch an interview with economist Joseph Stiglitz and answer comprehension questions to grasp his arguments for progressive capitalism and his critique of neoliberalism, enhancing their listening skills.
The lesson features a dedicated grammar section on cleft sentences (It is... that...; What... is...), teaching students how to add emphasis to their arguments, a key skill for advanced debate and discussion.
The lesson concludes with a dynamic group debate. Students use the new vocabulary, grammar, and argumentative phrases to defend their assigned position on whether progressive capitalism is the best model for the future.

00:00 I've been advocating a form of capitalism that I call progressive capitalism, distinct, for instance, from neoliberal capitalism, the kind of capitalism that we've had for the last 40 years.

00:12 Neoliberal capitalism emphasized shareholder value maximization, minimizing the role of the state, limiting regulation, paying no attention to inequality, and paying little attention to the environment.

00:30 Progressive capitalism is almost the antithesis of each of those. It recognizes the objective of our economy is to promote the well-being of society. It's not that we are supposed to serve the economy. The economy is supposed to serve us.

00:47 And it asks, how can it do that best?

00:52 It is about capitalism. Markets are an important part of the success of any economy and any society, but also recognizes there's a more important role of the state. There's a more important role for other forms of collective action.

01:10 For instance, a central issue that we are facing is climate change. None of us individually can address climate change.

01:20 Markets, firms are an important part of the solution. But they have to be motivated, either by carbon price or regulation. So we're going to need collective action if we're going to save the planet.

01:36 I think good regulation can promote innovation. Let me give you one example.

01:43 We've been moving towards more regulation of carbon emissions. We've done it in a number of different ways, automobile regulation, many states, California, New York, a lot of discussion about carbon prices.

02:01 It's clear that's the direction that we're moving. And what has been the response? An enormous amount of innovation in renewable energy to the point where the price of renewable energy has plummeted.

02:14 It has plummeted with very little government financial support. It has really been the private sector-led innovation that has brought the price of renewables down to the point where it's competitive with old fossil fuels, many areas much cheaper than fossil fuel.

02:35 If we have a societal problem and we design regulations to respond to that societal problem, the private sector will innovate to help solve the problem.

02:50 I don't see these as in conflict at all. Good regulation creates good innovation. And by good innovation, I just mean innovation that actually has the effect of increasing societal well-being.

03:08 Metrics are part of the move. Just let me give you an example. Is labor just a cost center? And do you want to lower wages, see how much you can exploit them?

03:23 Or do you think of them as an asset, as part of your social and moral responsibility? How do you empower them, increase their capabilities?

03:36 You know, they spend a large fraction of their life in the corporation. And so if you give them some flexibility, like family leave, sick leave, if you give them maybe even more responsibility and decision making, that can make a big difference.

03:54 I think people feel better in general in thinking that they are contributing in a broad way to society, but also, say, I think in the long run this is going to be profitable. It is better for the organization, for the corporation, and for the leaders themselves.

04:17 A number of years ago, 1944, Friedrich Hayek wrote this very influential book, The Road to Serfdom. He worried that the creation of the welfare state, a strong government helping individuals would lead to authoritarianism.

04:35 We now know that he was wrong. If we look around the world, populism, authoritarianism is associated not with government doing too much, but doing too little.

04:47 By doing too little, it has given rise to discontent that threatens our democracy and threatens our ability to respond to the major challenges that we face.

05:03 And one of the reasons I wrote the book, what I call The Road to Freedom, was that I wanted to highlight that progressive capitalism is really the vehicle through which we are most likely to be best able to respond to these challenges that we are going to be facing.

05:31 If we're going to create an economy that serves society, we have to reform it, change it in fundamental ways.

Vocabulary focus

The vocabulary section introduces essential terms for discussing economics and politics, such as advocating, antithesis, plummeted, discontent, empower, authoritarianism, and shareholder value maximization, ensuring students can articulate complex ideas with precision.

Grammar focus

This lesson targets a key advanced grammar point: cleft sentences. Students learn and practice using structures like 'It is... that...' and 'What... is...' to emphasize specific parts of a statement, making their arguments more persuasive and sophisticated.

Can capitalism be good?

Summary

Activities

Vocabulary focus

Grammar focus

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