The Pie: An Economics Podcast Economics for Everyone: Teaching the World to Think Like an Economist
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Nov 11, 2025 
Robert Shimer and John List, both esteemed economists from the University of Chicago, discuss their initiative, Economics for Everyone, designed to teach economic reasoning without complex mathematics. They explore innovative teaching methods, using real-world experiments and storytelling to demystify economic concepts. The duo emphasizes the relevance of critical thinking in both everyday decisions and public policy, advocating for wider economic literacy to influence issues from market fairness to policy evaluation. Their approach aims to make economics accessible and engaging for all.
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Economics Without The Math
- Economics for Everyone (E4E) was created to teach economic thinking to non-majors by removing the math barrier.
- The course focuses on core economic ideas so students from any discipline can apply economic reasoning in life.
Explain Markets With Stories, Not Proofs
- Teach market principles using stories like Hayek and Friedman rather than formal proofs.
- Emphasize intuitive examples to show how markets reduce information and align incentives.
Use Live Markets To Prove Equilibrium
- Run in-class market experiments where students play buyers and sellers to test equilibrium predictions.
- Use sealed predictions and live trades so students see theory validated empirically.
