Economics In Ten

It’s Christmas!!!! But slightly different in 2020. With the coronavirus still here and a full rollout of a vaccine still distant, there might be many who face Christmas on their own or not seeing many people. Therefore Pete and Gav thought it would be the right thing to do and create another economics of Christmas! So sit down with your drink of choice, get in your favourite chair and listen to your friendly neighbourhood economists as they go through 10 questions that will teach you some economics and provide some festive cheer! You can even have a go at a Christmas quiz - can you recognise ‘Merry Christmas’ in 10 different languages or at least beat Pete’s score?   Technical support (and jingle bells) as always comes from St. Nic. Music comes from Jukedeck and you can create your own at jukedeck.com. Have a merry Christmas everyone!!!

When Thomas Carlyle famously described Economics as ‘the dismal science’ it was said that it was inspired by the writing of Thomas Malthus. His doom and gloom essay on population was to have a legacy that lasted his lifetime and beyond but were his predictions correct? And if he wasn’t, why do we still talk about ‘Malthusian’ economics now? As always, your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav will be guiding you through the numerous arguments surrounding Bob’s work and wondering whether he was just a mild-mannered vicar, a headline-grabbing egotist or just a son who wanted to prove his dad wrong. Technical support as always comes from the Drop Down Thread tea maker Nic and music comes from Jukedeck. You can create your own at jukedeck.com.

Who is the founding father of Economics? Adam Smith you say? Who told you that? We did!?! Well…do you remember that famous quote attributed to Keynes (via Paul Samuelson)?  It was ‘when the facts change I change my mind, what do you do?’ and it seems that the facts may have changed. We say changed but maybe simply forgotten or ignored. Some are now making a case for Ibn Khaldun, an Islamic scholar, as the great-great-grandfather of our beloved discipline. Make up your own mind after hearing more about this fascinating man. As always your friendly neighbourhood economics Pete and Gav will guide you through the arguments and discuss how Ibn Khaldun may have got there first with many of the concepts which are are still central to Economics today. Technical support as always come from Nic and music comes from Jukedeck. You can create your own at jukedeck.com.

The summer of 2020 was the festival of sport that was never was. Many have tried to fill this gap, some with more success than others…I mean, who hasn’t enjoyed watching Simon Anthony complete a Sudoku puzzle on YouTube? Or been gripped by kitchen darts? But now it’s our turn to step up to the plate! Yes…here it is…the economics of sport. There are 10 thought provoking questions as always and guiding you through are your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete ‘The Greatest’ and Gav ‘The Golden Boy’. Learn how John Nash might have taken a penalty and why Gav wears lucky socks.   Technical support and sound effects as always comes from ‘Hands of Stone’ Nic and music comes from Jukedeck – you can create your own at jukedeck.com. PS - Gav does know that Brazil is not in Africa!

The chances are you have heard the phrase ‘creative destruction’ but what do you know about the man that coined it? In this podcast you will find out about Joseph Schumpeter, an economist who was hard to categorise but had plenty to say. In a world where ‘secular stagnation’ has arguably become the norm, his work on entrepreneurship and innovation are as important as ever. As well as being an influential economist Schumpeter also lived what might be called a 'colourful life' which may have helped to shape his unique perspective on economics.  Guiding you through as always are Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists. Technical support as always comes from Nic - ‘The Big Dawg’ and music comes from Jukedeck. You can create your own at jukedeck.com.

Demand and Supply – the cornerstone of economics! But how much do you know about Alfred Marshall, the first man to draw the ‘Marshallian Cross’ that we all use today? Some argue his ‘Principles of Economics’ was the most influential book of the 19th Century and set the template for every economics textbook that followed. This episode is jam-packed with economics and guiding you through as always are Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists. Technical support as always comes from b-boy Nic and music comes from Jukedeck and you can create your own at jukedeck.com.

Want to know more about Milton Friedman? The marmite of economics! You may have noticed that people either love him or hate him. Mrs Thatcher lauded him as the quintessential ‘intellectual freedom fighter’ but for others he’s the architect of a damaging neoliberalism ideology,  the so-called "shock doctrine" that has damaged many societies around the world.  Arguably both views are too simplistic in a world that has become increasingly binary in its thinking; perhaps there is a middle ground.  Dubbed the most influential economist of the late 20th Century, there is much to say about Friedman (as you’ll discover) and trying to guide you through as always, in an even handed manner,  are Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists. Technical support as always comes from master mixer Nic and music comes from Jukedeck and you can create your own at jukedeck.com.

The coronavirus has meant misery for many and lockdown has been unsettling for all but in many respects, it’s created an opportunity to stop and think about what kind of world we want to live in. Covid-19 has led to the world being rebooted and there are many positives that have come from lockdown that we want to share and discuss. From the darkness, we want to shine a light. In a survey commissioned by the RSA, many people have made radical lifestyle changes and 85% want those changes to continue. This is a positivity podcast and when lockdown finally ends, we want you coming out, brimming with ideas on how to make the world a better place. We only ask one question but we do it ten times in this Economics in Ten special and guiding you through as always are Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists. Technical support comes as always from Nic, who prefers ‘Call of Duty’ to decorating and music is by Jukedeck and you can create your own at jukedeck.com. Economics in Ten – The PodBible Independent Podcast of the Year 2019. NB - their may be the occasional audio issue; remote working has had to lead to innovations in our podcast set up!

The coronavirus crisis represents a huge challenge for humanity. We are seeing policy making at the national level that is unprecedented outside of war-time - so what might it mean for the future of economics and society in general? Will the pandemic shift the ‘Overton window’, the spectrum of “acceptable” government policies? Or will we see ‘disaster capitalism’ take advantage of the current economic breakdown? Graffiti in Hong Kong stated ‘We can’t return to normal, because the normal that we had was precisely the problem.’ but is that true? All of these questions and more will be discussed in this Economics in Ten special and guiding you through as always are Pete and Gav, your social distancing, friendly neighbourhood economists. Technical support comes as always from #boredathome Nic and music is by Jukedeck and you can create your own at jukedeck.com. Economics in Ten – The PodBible Independent Podcast of the Year 2019. NB -  for the occasional audio issues - there is the occasional lack of sync between our voices; we are still getting used to “remote working” like the rest of the country/world!

George Bernard Shaw once noted: ‘The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.’  What George forgot though was unreasonable women and when it comes to Economics, Joan Robinson was the unreasonable, brilliant woman and wow…did she make progress! Sadly in the male dominated economics world, she’s rather over-looked and this needs to change. She changed the way we thought about markets, she challenged economic orthodoxy, was part of Keynes’ inner circle and offered up her own growth theories. In this new podcast, you will find out all this and more! Guiding you through as always are Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists with technical support from Nic (check out his app – cheeky fingers). Music comes from Jukedeck and you can create your own at jukedeck.com. PS Apologies for a brief sound outage that occurs around the 20 minute mark. You might think the podcast is over at this point but fear not you have another hour of fun/learning about the great Joan to go....