Economics In Ten

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....

What does the dismal science have to say about the affairs of the heart? More than you imagine... You will be amazed at how much economics can teach you about love, lust and other four letter words. . In the latest of our Economics In Ten specials you'll discover how the insights of behavioural economics can help you decide whether you are with 'the one', whether capitalism is bad for your love life and most importantly how to win Love Island (with special thanks to John Forbes Nash Junior). The course of true love may never run smooth but to to help it along the way you have your friendly neighbourhood economists (and incurable romantics) Pete and Gav. As always we draw upon the technical support of the Economics in Ten team casanova Nic. Music comes from Jukedeck and you can make your own sweet music at jukedeck.com.  Economics in Ten - The PodBible Independent Podcast of the Year 2019. 

We all like games don’t we? But in order to win games you need the best strategy and there is one economist who is synonymous with games and more specifically ‘game theory’. You might know him from the award winning film ‘A Beautiful Mind’ but there is so much more to know about John Nash Jr. and the Economics in Ten team want to share that with you.  Along the way you will find out the best way to win ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’, discover the huge cost (or benefit) of the nuclear arms race and what’s the market rate for a Nobel Prize medal at auction. Guiding you through as always are Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists with technical support from our yellow trainered friend Nic. Music comes from Jukedeck and you can create your own at jukedeck.com. Economics in Ten – The Oh.My.Pod. PodBible Independent Podcast of the Year 2019.

It’s Christmas!!!! But what does Christmas have to teach us about economics? Well…quite a lot in fact as you’ll soon find out as you listen to this festive special by the Economics in Ten team. What’s the best present you can give according to economists? Should you get a real tree or a plastic one from an environmental economics perspective? What can the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ teach us about inflation? There are plenty more festive questions to be answered plus you get our guide to the top gifts to satisfy the budding economist in your household. Guiding you through as always are Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists with technical support (and jingle bells) from Nic. Music comes from Jukedeck and you can create your own at jukedeck.com. Have a merry Christmas everyone!!!

Sir Arthur Lewis was a pioneer. The first black man to win the Economics Nobel Prize, the first black man to be a professor of any university and in any field in the UK and the economist largely seen as the first major thinker in the field of development economics.  His  "two sector" model is taught across the world  -  but who was the man behind the model and why does he have a building and a mascot named after him at the University of Manchester? What is his (spurious) link with Mancunian musical legends MC Tunes and A Guy Called Gerald. Guiding you through these questions and many more (as always) are Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists. Technical support comes from Nic and the music from Jukedeck - you can create your own at jukedeck.com.

Traditionally economics has been a man’s world reflected in the fact that out of 84 Nobel Prize winners in Economics, only 2 (until last week only 1!) have been women. This dominance is starting to be challenged and people are increasingly valuing greater diversity of economic thought and economic thinkers. But who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Economics and why did she keep on saying that 'there is no panacea'? Listen to this second episode of season 2 to learn more about Elinor Ostrom and how she challenged the idea of the ‘tragedy of the commons’. You’ll also discover that in this world of complexity, her methodology has enormous potential in solving practical problems. You'll also learn about a determined woman of great character who would not be "put in her place"!  Guiding you through as always are Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists with technical support from Nic. Music comes from Jukedeck and you can create your own at jukedeck.com.