Economics In Ten
Economics In Ten is a podcast that explores the lives, times, and ideas of the world's greatest economic thinkers. Each episode uses ten different questions to provide a fun and engaging look at a famous economist. The show is presented by Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists, with technical support from Nic and music from Jukedeck.
Episodes
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 living standards for all. What happens though if your specialism is in something that doesn’t earn enough to buy you the imports that you need? In other words are some specialisms superior? Could this lead to an unhealthy dependency
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 (and your disadvantage!). This new special by your friendly neighbourhood economists Pete and Gav lifts the lid on common heuristics and biases (aka "rules of thumb" or "mental shortcuts") that influence your thinking and ultimat
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 is at the heart of orthodox economic thought with Mill's ideas arguably acting as a guard rail against the malign actions of ‘the nanny state’ . However, as we will demonstrate, Mill was a complex thinker whose thinking evolved ov
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 neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, this scenario is explored... and along the way modern day business practices are discussed and the economics of Christmas are "mulled" over. Tensions rise... Will Santa embrace the ‘enshi
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 her as Mrs Thatcher or ‘The Iron Lady’ and 100 years later, whether you loved or hated her, she is still being discussed and her influence is evident in the economics and politics of today. In this special episode by Pete and Gav,
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 seen one particular approach to economics dominate over recent decades. Is this sub-optimal? One economist in particular, Jayati Ghosh, would argue yes, and point to the negative impacts of having just one "voice"
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 Stones knew their stuff!!! In this special from your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, they blast off in a time travelling machine to visit some of the greatest economists of our time. Along the way, they muse on some
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! Samuelson understood the power of economics and his best selling textbook called (surprisingly) ‘Economics’ was read by millions across America and influenced a number of the economists and policy makers that shape economic policy
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 is shared across the world. Arguably, with the Trump presidency we are seeing a departure from this accepted convention. We are also seeing some other, perhaps less charged voices sharing a more nuanced picture of the b
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. Since the end of the Second World War this trade has been facilitated by trade agreements brokered first by the ad hoc assemblies to promote the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and later via the auspices of the permane
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 makers using the traditional approach of ‘demand management’, In the post-war era fiscal and monetary policy to manage the vagaries of the economic cycle but this approach was undermined by the curse of "stagflation". The late 1970s an
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 exploring this in Economics would be to use the 'classical' Theory of the Firm but in terms of growth, it doesn’t really have any answers or at least answers that provide any concrete implications for real-world decision-making. It was
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 Economics past? Well now's your chance. Cambridge is rich with economic history and in this podcast special, recorded on the hoof, your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, take you on a 4 mile journey around Cambridge
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 producers profit. Nobel Prize winning economist Herbert Simon challenged this assumption and in doing so coined a new verb, ‘to satisfice’ to show how consumers and producers in the ‘real world’ behave somewhat differentl
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 Uber and if you want to shop, Amazon is the place many will go. Standard economics would suggest this is a bad thing as competition is good for the market, so how has this happened? How bad are monopolies? And are there any upsid
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 world would ever seen the intimidating Marxist tome ‘Das Kapital’. The even more (in)famous ‘The Communist Manifesto’ was the results of genuine collaboration between the two. Engels without question changed the world a
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 methods, how would you respond? In this new play by your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, these issues are tackled in a fun and thought-provoking manner. Will you side with Dr Becker, the doctor who has created ‘
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!!! When first mooted this was an alien idea to many, including many economists but this was the novel approach of the highly influential and award-winning economist Gary Becker. Becker is many economists' favourite economist, at
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 Economics past? Well now's your chance. Ye olde London Town is rich with economic history and in this podcast special, your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, take you on a 3 mile journey around Central London. Start
Season 7 - Episode 3 - William Stanley Jevons
One could argue that the modern discipline that is Economics is, to a large degree, a branch of applied mathematics. This is a far cry from its early roots found in the work of more philosophical thinkers such as Adam Smith. How did we end up here? One major reason is the "Marginal Revolution" of the nineteenth century. In this episode of their award winning podcast, Pete and Gav, your f
Season 7 - Episode 2 - Robert Lucas Jr
Abraham Lincoln once said “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.” This quote has been wheeled out to the point of cliche but we believe it epitomises the work of Nobel Prize winning economist Robert E Lucas Jr. The (perhaps reluctant?) leader of the New Classical school of economics, he made h
Season 7 - Episode 1 - Hyman P. Minsky
At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, the late Queen Elizabeth II asked economists at the London School of Economics the obvious question "why did nobody notice it?". Doubtless there was much muttering and shuffling of feet at that point but there was at least one economist who had predicted what would happen (albeit some years earlier), namely Hyman P. Minsky. Before the Credi
Shakespeare Special: The Seven Ages of Man
In Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’, the seven ages of man are described by "melancholy Jacques" the professional misery-guts killing the mood in the Forest of Arden. To celebrate the Bard’s birthday, your friendly neighbourhood economists have produced a Shakespearian special that focuses on some economics associated with each of these seven ages. Pete and Gav will be your guides through
Season 6 - Episode 5 - Leon Walras
Leon Walras was described as ‘the greatest economist’ by Joseph Schumpeter and in his own lifetime he struggled to have his unique voice heard by economists in his native France, let alone those colleagues across the Channel and the Atlantic. So what were the ideas touted by Walras that would force such a claim from Schumpeter? This is what your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav expl
Season 6 - Episode 4 - Herman Daly
Have you ever found yourself considering the "economic" view of the world with a sense that something vital is missing? This was very much Herman Daly's viewpoint. He wondered why economic models didn’t include where resources came from and where they went afterwards, once used. This surprisingly caused quite a lot of controversy and so did his call for a ‘steady-state’ economy. He also coined the
Season 6 - Episode 3 - Irving Fisher
Irving Fisher was once lauded by fellow economist Joseph Schumpeter as the ‘greatest economist America has ever produced’. This is high praise indeed but one could easily argue that the most recent Economic Nobel Prize laureates owe Fisher a considerable debt for their award. The financial crisis of 2008 spurred a renewed interest in Fisher’s work after what could be seen as a lengthy period of ne
Fiscal Policy Special
When it comes to influencing the macroeconomy, governments have two big levers at their disposal - monetary policy and fiscal policy. In this new special by Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists, we delve into the second of these, fiscal policy. As always we discuss 10 key questions, which will hopefully give the listener a good overview of what fiscal policy is and provide so
Season 6 - Episode 2 - Corrado Gini
When economists discuss inequality, they often quote the Gini Coefficient, but who was the man behind the maths? In this episode, your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav investigate the life and ideas of Corrado Gini. Was he on the side of good or evil? Along the way, you will find out about his often over-looked association with Mussolini and the discredited "science" of eugenics, Pe
Monetary Policy Special
When it comes to economic policy making, there are two big levers that a government can pull - monetary policy and fiscal policy. In this new special by your friendly neighbourhood economists Pete and Gav, they delve into the first of these, monetary policy. As always 10 questions are discussed and this will give the listener a good overview of what monetary policy is and some of the controversies
Season 6 Episode 1 - A W "Bill" Phillips
An economist that hunted crocodiles? An inventor who constructed prison camp radios and hydraulic models of the economy? An adventurer that could speak five different languages and was arrested for spying? Who is this ‘Indiana Jones of Economics’ as he was once described? We discuss in this episode the remarkable life and times of A.W. Phillips or ‘Bill’ as he was known to his friends. He has one
Summer Reading Special 2022
George R R Martin once wrote “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” Here at EconomicsInTen we have always been keen to share our love of reading (and economics), therefore once again, Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists have put together another Summer Reading special for you to enjoy. In a change from our usual format
Season 5 Episode 5 - Millicent Fawcett
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
Cost of Living Special
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
Season 5 Episode 4 - Arthur Pigou
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 ab
Season 5 Episode 3 - James M Buchanan
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
Christmas Special 2021
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 dep
Food and Drink Special
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
Season 5 Episode 2 - E F Schumacher
'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
Season 5 Episode 1 - Simon Kuznets
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 misundersto
Summer Reading Special 2021
“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 firs
Season 4 Episode 5 - Esther Duflo
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 dif
Season 4 Episode 4 - Muhammad Yunus
Quiz Question: Who is the only economist to win the Nobel Peace Prize? Answer: Muhammad Yunus.... and yet strangely he has never been in the running to win the equivalent Economics Prize. Is there a reason why his ideas, and those of the institution he founded - The Grameen Bank - have been so welcomed by US Presidents and other dignitaries and yet not been as well received by his peer
Season 4 Episode 3 - Amartya Sen
How do you know if a country is "doing well" economically? How can we say that one country is "more developed" than another? For many years incomes (GDP) and other measures of how much "stuff" a country was making were the standard yardstick but then along came Amartya Sen and changed our viewpoint on how development was measured forever. Those ideas, shaped by a childhood that spanned the partiti
Season 4 Episode 2 - Hernando de Soto
Are you lucky enough to own your own home or business? But do you ever stop and think about what you would do if someone tried to take it from you, or bulldoze it? Do you ever stop and reflect on the economic power that legally protected property gives you? It's very easy to take property rights for granted but one economist is convinced that they are the key to the success of capitalism and unloc
Inequality Special
Have you ever wanted to know about inequality but didn’t know where to start? In this latest special by Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists, you will be guided through the economics of inequality. Along the way you will come across stocks and flows, a curve that looks like an elephant and a coefficient that has nothing to do with Aladdin but everything to do with an Italian econom
Season 4 Episode 1 - Daniel Kahneman
Did you hear about the psychologist that won the Nobel Prize for Economics? Sounds like the start of a joke doesn’t it? But in 2002 Daniel Kahneman won the award for the revolutionary work on "prospect theory" carried out with his colleague and friend Amos Tversky. Their work changed the course of economics by introducing the world to behavioural economics. So if you’ve ever felt like
Christmas Special 2020
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 yo
Season 3 Episode 5 - Thomas Robert Malthus
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 a
Season 3 Episode 4 - Ibn Khaldun
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 sc
Sport Special
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 guid
Season 3 Episode 3 - Joseph Schumpeter
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 infl
Season 3 Episode 2 - Alfred Marshall
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&n
Season 3 Episode 1 - Milton Friedman
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 s
Positivity Special
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 commissio
Coronavirus Special
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 econ
Season 2 Episode 5 - Joan Robinson
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 do
Love Special
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 li
Season 2 Episode 4 - John Forbes Nash Jr
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
Christmas Special 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 infl
Season 2 Episode 3 - Sir Arthur Lewis
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
Season 2 Episode 2 - Elinor Ostrom
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 sa
Season 2 Episode 1 - Thorstein Veblen
Want to know why Cardi B has five super cars but can't drive? Economics has the answer! Or more specifically Thorstein Veblen does. Who is this man and why is he still so relevant today? From Russian oligarchs to Saudi Princes, to Premiership footballers and even that work colleague who keeps rolling up their sleeve in the hope that you'll comment on their new Rolex... Listen to the first episode
Summer Reading Special
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss
If you want to be a great student of economics or just be well-informed about the world, then reading widely is without question the magic ingredient. We at EconomicsInTen are great believers in the power of reading. Therefore in this Summer Reading speci
Season 1 Episode 5 - Karl Marx
Interested in Karl Marx? Want to know what Marxism might be? Ever wondered what the impact of 'The Communist Manifesto' and 'Das Kapital' have been on the world? And have you ever considered that Dolly Parton may have been a closet Marxist? Then listen to this episode and find out more about the man who was far more influential after death than in his own lifetime and still provokes strong feeling
Environment Special
This week we are once again moving away from our coverage of economic titans and sharing with you another of our topical "specials".
So...
Climate change…it’s a hot topic but what light if any can conventional economics shed on it? In this environmental special, your friendly neighbourhood economists Pete and Gav look at various different theories that try to address how economics can
Season 1 Episode 4 - David Ricardo
Globalisation…it’s a hot topic in economics but why do so many economists emphasise the importance of trade? Many would argue that this began with David Ricardo and his Theory of Comparative Advantage, leading to the interdependence between countries that we see today. Who was Ricardo and how did he develop his ideas? What would he have made of today's global economy? And what is his very te
Season 1 Episode 3 - Friedrich Hayek
Want to know who Friedrich Hayek was? Batman had the Joker. Holmes had Moriarty. Emu had Grotbags. And in the world of Economics, Keynes had Hayek. But who was this man? How did he contribute to the world of economics? And how did he arguably become the most important economist of the 20th Century? Listen to this episode to find out more and decide which side of the debate you ar
Happiness Special
This week we are departing temporarily from our coverage of great economists for the first of our "Economics in Ten Specials" with a look at the growing field of Happiness Economics.
Are you a student and worried that you won’t be able to buy a house before you retire? Are you unhappy because you are not losing weight fast enough? Want to know what music to put on to make you happier? In thi
Season 1 Episode 2 - John Maynard Keynes
Want to know who John Maynard Keynes was? How he contributed to the world of economics? And more importantly what was he chowing down on at his secret society? Listen to this episode to learn more. Keynes once said ‘in the long run we are all dead’ and after this extended episode you might have sympathy with his thoughts but hopefully Pete and Gav will keep you entertained and informed throughout.
Season 1 Episode 1 - Adam Smith
Want to know who Adam Smith was? How he contributed to the world of economics? And, more importantly, what would his walk on music be if he was a professional boxer? Listen to this episode to learn more about the father of modern economics (or, as the kids might say, the original G) from Pete and Gav, your friendly neighbourhood economists. With technical support from Nic and music from Juke
