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 ‘Homo Economicus’ or will you side with Adam The Clone? Listen to the play and then have a think about some of the questions that have been put online to discuss. Thanks always goes to Nic for his produ ..read more

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 least those economists keenest on market-based, "rational" approaches. Where once economics stayed in its lane, now, post-Becker, Economics goes wherever it chooses, with tools such as cost-benefit analy ..read more

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. Starting at the British Library and ending at the LSE, you will find out why certain landmarks are important within the world of economics. It should take you just over an hour to  ..read more

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 friendly neighbourhood economists, explore the life and ideas of William Stanley Jevons, one of the proponents of this less than bloody revolution. He was the man who turned Political Economy into Economics ..read more

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 his name with his deceptively simple analysis of "rational expectations" and was lauded (at least by some) for putting Keynesianism to the sword after its long period of ascendancy in the pos ..read more

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 Credit Crunch Minsky had been largely ignored by mainstream economists but now was his "Minsky Moment". His slogan that "stability created instability" was now taken up with some enthusiasm; his recommendation t ..read more

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 each stage of life from "mewling and puking" through to "mere oblivion", to see what Economics can teach us. Along the way you will learn about the economy of Shakespeare’s England, how Pete was an imperious Ki ..read more

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 explore in our last episode of our sixth season. You will discover how Walras helped kick-start the ‘Marginal Revolution’ and laid out the groundwork for the theory that has captured the attention of many ..read more

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 distinctly unfashionable term ‘uneconomic growth’. In this episode, your friendly neighbourhood economists, Pete and Gav, take you on a journey to explore the life and ideas of the founding father of ..read more

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 neglect.  In his own life-time he went from being the first "celebrity economist" to seeing his reputation in tatters after some overly optimistic and in hindsight ill-advised comments on what was ..read more