More on the Pennsylvania academic freedom hearings

This one hits close to home.

[State Rep. Gibson] Armstrong reminded the professor [Kurt Smith, assistant professor of Philosophy, Bloomsburg U.] that the committee's purpose was not to interfere in the classroom but to make sure universities were enforcing the policies and procedures they already have in place. The professor countered that if that were the case, all the lawmakers had to do was make phone calls to administrators, not spend thousands of dollars on hearings. Mr. Armstrong told Mr. Smith that there wasn't enough diversity of viewpoints on college campuses and said that Temple University's economics department, by not teaching a course on Adam Smith or John Maynard Keynes, was a case in point.

For the record, these are among the courses that the Economics Department at Temple University offers:

C050. Introduction to the Economy (3 s.h.) Discussion of what economics is all about. Provides an overview of how a market economy operates, what it does well, what it may not do so well, and what could be done instead. The concepts of economic analysis are developed and applied to discussing some of the current economic problems the world is facing.

C051/H091. Macroeconomic Principles (3 s.h.) An introductory course in macroeconomics. Topics include business cycles, inflation, unemployment, banking, monetary and fiscal policy, international economics, and economic growth.

C052/H092. Microeconomic Principles (3 s.h.) An introductory course in microeconomics. Topics include the market system, supply and demand, cost, competition, monopoly, oligopoly, factor markets, and public goods.
0217.

History of Economic Theory (3 s.h.) The development of economic analysis from the pre-classical period to the neo-classical tradition that dominates contemporary mainstream economic thinking; emphasis on the work of Adam Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, the Marginalists, Marx, and Marshall.

You cannot take a course in microeconomics without being exposed to the ideas of Adam Smith, you cannot take a course in macroeconomics without being exposed to the ideas of John Maynard Keynes. History of Economic Theory is indeed a course that covers the works of Adam Smith explicitly. Hey, they don't offer a course on Keynes! I would, but I don't teach at Temple. I'm content to leave that choice up to Temple's Economics Department.

Why would anyone believe that Pennsylvania State legislators are qualified to pass judgment on college course offerings? This one literally does not know what he's talking about.