Economics In Ten

Season 9 - Episode 3 - Henry George

Which books have been the biggest bestsellers in the history of economic thought? You might be surprised to find out that one contender is ‘Progress and Poverty’ by Henry

Season 9 - Episode 2 - Raul Prebisch

How do countries grow and develop most rapidly? Most economists would argue that openness to trade is an absolutely key factor, with specialisation leading to greater liv

Now That's What I Call... Behavioural Economics!

Behavioural economics can explain an awful lot about how governments, media and businesses can manipulate your day-to-day choices and habitual thinking to their advantage

Season 9 - Episode 1 - John Stuart Mill

‘On Liberty’ by JS Mill is beloved by libertarians across the world - it championed the freedom of the individual in the face of growing state power. This individualism i

Santa Plc - A Play About Economics

Imagine a world where Santa was forced to put shareholder value ahead of spreading joy to millions of children across the world. In this new play by your friendly neighbo

Thatcherism Special

In 1925, on the 13th October, a daughter was born to Alfred Roberts and his wife Beatrice Stephenson - she was named Margaret Hilda Roberts. The world would get to know h

Season 8 - Episode 5 - Jayati Ghosh

In standard economic theory monopolies are generally seen as leading to "sub-optimal outcomes" (they are bad!). However in their own discipline one could argue we have se

A Short History of Economics in Rhythm and Rhyme

The Rolling Stones once sang ‘You can’t always get what you want but sometimes you get what you need’ and when it comes to a rhyming history of economics, the Rolling Sto

Season 8 - Episode 4 - Paul Samuelson

Paul Samuelson once said ‘I don’t care who writes a nation’s laws or crafts its advanced treatises if I can write its economics textbooks’ and boy did he write the book!

International Trade Special

In the post-war era in particular the orthodox view in economic and political circles has been that "free" trade is crucial in ensuring that economies grow and prosperity

Season 8 - Episode 3 - James Meade

All countries seem to have economic growth as their primary economic objective and the received opinion is that the best way to do this is through international trade. Si

Supply Side Economics Special

How do you achieve the magic formula of low inflation and economic growth? In the 1970s this was beginning to move further and further away from the reach of policy maker

Season 8 - Episode 2 - Edith Penrose

What makes firms grow? This appears to be an important question, particularly with governments looking for GDP growth to be driven by firms. The normal vehicle for explor

Cambridge Walk Special

Have you ever wanted to walk in the footsteps of the great economists? Do you want to breathe the same air they breathed? Do you want to be inspired by the ghosts of Econ

Season 8 - Episode 1 - Herbert Simon

One of the fundamental principles of orthodox economics the idea that all economic agents "maximise" - consumers aim to maximise utility (econ speak for happiness) and pr

Monopoly Special

A feature of our economic world is how dominated many markets are by a single firm. If you want to search for something, you ‘Google’ it, if you want a cab, you reach for

Season 7 - Episode 5 - Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Engels was probably the most influential sidekick in the history of the world. He bankrolled his "bestie" Marx and without his deep pockets, it is unlikely the

Rational - A Play About Economics

What if rational economic man existed? How would they view the current state of the planet? How would they solve ‘the economic problem’? If it was to be solved by extreme

Season 7 - Episode 4 - Gary Becker

Imagine looking at the world and seeing economics everywhere. Whether it was in family dynamics, discrimination in the workplace, the criminal mind…absolutely anything!!!

London Walk Special

Have you ever wanted to walk in the footsteps of the great economists? Do you want to breathe the same air they breathed? Do you want to be inspired by the ghosts of Econ