Chalk Radio

Thinking Like an Economist with Prof. Jonathan Gruber

Jun 24, 2020

Professor Jonathan Gruber, an educator passionate about making economics accessible, discusses how to teach economic principles through relatable examples. He uses pop culture references like Kim Kardashian’s corset and LeBron James’s college decision to connect theory with real life. Gruber emphasizes the importance of economic intuition, urging students to apply mathematical models to everyday situations. By fostering critical thinking and contextual understanding, he makes economics engaging and relevant, proving it’s not as boring as many think!

10:21

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Episode guests

Jonathan Gruber

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Quick takeaways

Professor Gruber emphasizes the importance of using relatable, real-world examples in economics education to enhance student understanding and engagement.

The podcast highlights the necessity of teaching students about the limitations of economic models, fostering critical thinking and adaptability in complex scenarios.

Deep dives

The Importance of Flexible Thinking in Economics

An economics course aims to cultivate flexible and thoughtful decision-making among students by encouraging them to consider multiple perspectives on issues. By illustrating concepts like demand and supply through relatable real-world examples, such as a celebrity's influence on product demand, students can recognize the practicality of economic principles in daily life. This approach helps demystify economics and equips students with analytical tools to understand various societal and market dynamics. Ultimately, the goal is to enhance their ability to think critically and adaptively in an increasingly complex world.

Intro

2min

Making Economics Relevant: Real-World Applications in Education

3min

Cultivating Intuition and Critical Thinking in Education

2min

Applying Economics to Real-Life Decisions

3min

Professor Jonathan Gruber wants to train students to think like economists. Economics uses elegant mathematical models to explain how people make decisions and allocate their resources—but all too often those models are taught in ways that remain disconnected from students’ own experience. In this episode, Professor Gruber shares his thoughts on bridging that gap in his course 14.01 Introductory Microeconomics. He says he tries to anchor the course with real-world examples; as he explains, “You only really understand something when you go out in the real world and apply it.” And those examples, he says, have to be relatable. So rather than discussing companies none of his students have heard of or commodities nobody cares about, he illustrates fundamental economic concepts with examples like Kim Kardashian’s exercise corset, Uber’s policy of surge pricing, and LeBron James’s decision not to attend college. By engaging students with accessible examples of economic principles in action, Professor Gruber helps them develop economic intuition—a sense of how the mathematical models apply in the real, seemingly chaotic world. If you’ve always thought economics was boring, listen in on this podcast. It may change your mind!

Relevant Resources:

MIT OpenCourseWare

The OCW Educator Portal

Professor Gruber’s Scholar course on OCW

Professor Gruber’s microeconomics course on EdX

Professor Gruber’s faculty page

Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions

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