Economics In Ten

In 1890, the British Economic Association was formed, which would later become the Royal Economic Society. At that meeting was Millicent Fawcett and ten or eleven other women. Better known as one of the foremost leaders of the movement for women's suffrage, she was also at the heart of the economic establishment of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, not only through her marriage to renowned economist Henry Fawcett but also, as is less well known, as author of one of the most popular economics textbooks of the day.  In this podcast from your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, you will find out about the life of Millicent Fawcett and her contribution to economics. Along the way, you can find out more about the forgotten women of the world of Victorian economics and also dip a toe into the modern day field of Feminist Economics. There is a quiz as always and technical support comes from chief wizard Nic, pulling another podcast rabbit out of his hat. 

At the moment everyone seems to be talking about the cost of living crisis and it's not hard to see why. Drive past a garage forecourt in the UK and you'll see that petrol prices have reached their highest average on record. Energy bills are rocketing making some households reluctant to put on the heating. The cost of your weekly shopping bill is more expensive than last week and yet this seems to be happening EVERY week!!! Other countries around the world are seeing a similar reduction in the spending power of their hard-earned cash with levels of inflation not seen for decades. So, in this 'cost of living' special, your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, answer 10 questions that help explain why this is occurring now and also discuss what the solutions might be to stop this from happening again in the future. Along the way there is a quiz based on 1992 (the last time inflation was this high) and a new poem linked to a famous Budweiser advert. Technical support as always comes from covid Nic.  NB: When Gavin says regressive when we discuss the rise in national insurance he meant progressive. Sorry!

What should governments do to stop problems such as consumers overeating or producers polluting? Many economists would encourage what is known as a Pigouvian tax that increases the price, reduces demand and creates revenue for the government, all at the same time. But why is it known as a Pigouvian tax? In this podcast from your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, you will find out about the life and ideas of Arthur C. Pigou, who the tax is named after. The man who bridged the gap between Marshall and Keynes, Pigou is sometimes the forgotten man of economics and was probably the last of the classical economists but arguably his ideas about market failure are more relevant than ever. Along the way, you can test your knowledge on famous Olympians, consider whether Pigou was a misogynist and wonder how good you would be at Cumberland wrestling! As always technical support comes from Nic ‘Brailsford’ and music comes from Jukedeck. You can make your own at Jukedeck.com.

What do we expect from our public servants? We assume they do their jobs in order to make the world a better place and improve the welfare of society but James M Buchanan had other ideas. He saw those in power looking to do what’s best for them rather than for the people they represent and unfortunately the news cycle seems to support this seemingly cynical view. Public Choice Theory won Buchanan the Nobel Prize in Economics and in this third episode of our fifth season, your friendly neighbourhood economists Pete and Gav, take you through the life and ideas of James Buchanan. Along the way, you can test your knowledge on middle names, consider the viewpoint that the free market is the most ethical economic system and whether you would like to drink zucchini wine! As always technical support comes from Nic and music comes from Jukedeck. You can make your own at Jukedeck.com.

It's Christmas!!! AGAIN! And what more could you want this festive season than another Economics In Ten Christmas Special...it's almost becoming a tradition! So grab a mulled wine and a mince pie and listen to your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, discuss 10 questions that will teach you some economics and give you some festive cheer. Although take note...you will hear the most depressing Christmas poem ever!! Sorry. As always, there is a festive quiz and some wonderful present suggestions. Technical support (and jingle bells) as always come from Father to 3 Christmas Nic and music comes from Jukedeck. You can create your own at Jukedeck.com. Merry Christmas everyone!!! HO! HO! HO!

As they sing in Oliver! - Food, glorious food...and we LOVE our food. We love being in the kitchen, we love coming up with recipe ideas and we love gifting food-related books like Snoop Dogg’s glorious cookbook... but what can food (and drink) teach us about economics? Lots of course! In this special, Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists, stuff so much economics into ten questions about 10 ingredients, you’ll have to loosen your belt to take it all in! And at the end, there are even ideas for a four course meal based around the ingredients mentioned. Wow! How good is that? Technical support as always comes from Marco Pierre Nic. Music comes from Jukedeck and you can create your own at jukedeck.com. Bon Appetit everyone!!

'A Study of Economics as if People Mattered' was the subtitle of E F Schumacher's most famous work, 'Small is Beautiful'. It might seem jarring to non-economists that people might not "matter" in economic theory but Schumacher's contention was that the "simplifying" assumptions of mainstream economics were decidedly non-trivial - they were "assuming away" the very essence of our humanity. Seen by many as the godfather of the modern environmental movement Schumacher viewed with alarm the alienation caused by the rapid industrialisation of the modern era and with even greater concern the devastating ecological impact of mankind's frenetic race to produce more and more. On the eve of COP26 Schumacher's ideas are arguably more relevant that ever. In the second episode of our fifth season, your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, take you on a journey through the colourful life and evolving intellectual landscape of Ernst Friedrich Schumacher. Along the way you can test your knowledge on other famous Schumachers and debate the ethics of naming a child after an old flame... As always, technical support is provided by Mr Shingles and music comes from jukedeck. You can make your own at jukedeck.com. PS Pete prematurely refers to the COP27 rather than COP26 meetings throughout - apologies!

To establish whether you are in good shape a doctor might take your pulse. In economics, Gross Domestic Product (aka GDP) is the go-to metric for determining economic health. Governments can be toppled off the back of disappointing GDP data - think recessions  (or even worse the dreaded double-dip recession!).  But who was the man behind the creation of this powerful if often misunderstood concept and what might he make of the latter-day uses and abuses of GDP today? In the first episode of our fifth season, your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, explore the life and ideas of Simon Kuznets. A man of mystery, they hunt down how he became such a hugely influential figure in the world of economics and how he ended up having at least two curves named after him, the ultimate if unspoken dream of every academic economist. Along the way, you can test your knowledge of Belarus, the birth place of Kuznets and hear us (!) eating some food related to his Jewish background. As always, technical support is provided by a very tired Nic and music comes from Jukedeck. You can create your own at Jukedeck.com.

“A word after a word after a word is power.” – Margaret Atwood. Many of the great economists we have looked at in our past episodes were voracious readers, and whilst we in no way put ourselves in their company we are great believers in reading widely. Simply put we at EconomicsInTen are great believers in the power of reading and the power of words.  Therefore in this sequel to the first Summer Reading special, your friendly neighbourhood economists Pete and Gav answer one simple question 10 times. What book would they recommend and why? All the books are linked to economics in some way and if you read them all, you will become a better economist and who knows, perhaps a better human being too! So while away those long summer days catching up with our podcast and reading these beauties.   As always, this podcast comes with technical support from the great Nic and comes with music from Jukedeck – create your own at jukedeck.com. PS Apologies for the delay in this episodes release; we hoped to get it out at the start of summer but have been hit by "pings", mic problems and various other modern ills. These books will keep you going well into the Autumn!

Have you heard of the ‘Randomistas’? Seemingly they are taking the economics world by storm and at the heart of this group of research economists is a French-American named Esther Duflo. With her husband Abhijit Banerjee and colleague Michael Kremer, she became only the second woman to win the Nobel Prize for Economics, for her use of Randomised Control Trials, aimed at testing the efficacy of different social policies in combatting poverty and other ills in the developing (and in parts of the developed) world. Lauded by world leaders (and philanthropists with deep pockets) they have put forward a vision of economics unclouded by prejudice and politics.  But in a profession seemingly divided between free marketeers and interventionists, does she successfully cut through the noise by dealing only in the data? In other words is it possible or even desirable to be free of ideology in the pursuit of economic truth and "what works"? This question and many more surrounding the life and ideas of Duflo, are discussed as always by your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav. Technical support is provided by Nic and music comes from Jukedeck. You can create your own at Jukedeck.com