Trust Me, I’m an Economist

[nige]

Heads up. The first programme in this new four-part series airs on the 18th of August on BBC Two (tomorrow) at 19:00. Tim Harford is the author of a book that I’d also recommend; The Undercover Economist. It looks like (Google suggests) the series will to some extent on a similar theme to the book; applying economic theory to very much microeconomic questions; in the case of the first episode ‘love’.

I’m guessing that the solutions that will presented will not necessarily be practical. There’s a good chance, however, that they will provide a decent insight into how the economy works.

http://neweconomist.blogs.com/new_economist/2006/07/trust_me_im_an_.html

No, it will not tell you how to capture the heart of the man or woman of your dreams (though it does show some things you clearly should not do). It will, though, help explain the extent to which we are rational economic beings and the extent to which we are not. And it will explain how the market can be harnessed to all sorts of socially beneficial aims.

With a bit of luck, it might also help economically illiterate policy makers to understand why their policies so often fail. We could do with a bit more of that.

Radio Times Review:

Here's a novel idea: instead of turning to psychology or religion to help make our life choices, suppose we consulted economics instead? Forget George Bernard Shaw's quip that if all economists were laid end to end, they wouldn't reach a conclusion, Tim Harford is different. He has a neat way of applying game theory to situations like speed dating and marriage. OK, it's unromantic, but on the evidence of this crisp, provocative programme, it makes a certain sense.

It is, I admit, an implausible piece of casting. I am ungainly, balding, bespectacled and rather shy. I make an unlikely television presenter. But I bluffed my way past the front door of a production company called Tiger Aspect, which makes successful children’s cartoons and sitcoms but is not famous for economic analysis. Then it bluffed its way past the front door of the BBC.

But the BBC, rather unexpectedly, called those bluffs, so we had to make a television show. I moved my family across the Atlantic to London, abandoned my wife among the packing cases and tried to keep bluffing my way all the way through to the final product: Trust Me, I’m an Economist. The show’s concept is simple: an economist uses his theories to solve problems for ordinary people, finding them dates or new jobs, and explaining a little bit of economics along the way. This is the story of how it all happened. (from http://www.timharford.com/writing/2006/08/trust-me-im-economist.html )

 

[TommoUK]

It does sound quite good, but that's when Snakes on a Plane starts showing at the cinema.

 

[Christo]

Sounds great - I'll definitely be watching that, reminds me of Freakonomics.

 

[kicks66]

sounds a bit like a book i read on holiday - freakonomics where an economist applies economics to everyday matters such as schools cheating, drug dealers etc, id recommend it

 

[Christo]

sounds a bit like a book i read on holiday - freakonomics where an economist applies economics to everyday matters such as schools cheating, drug dealers etc, id recommend it

Did you read the post above yours!?

 

[kicks66]

i did, but for some reason i didnt see the word freakonomics there :/

 

[Christo]

Cool book tho I wonder how it could be used...

 

[nige]

From the first quote I posted;

The subject has been moving along steadily but two best-selling books have suddenly brought this sort of work to public notice. One is Freakonomics, written by two Americans, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. The other is The Undercover Economist by a British author, Tim Harford. In rather different ways, the two books relate economics to how people behave - from drug dealers in Chicago (Freakonomics) to supermarket shoppers or coffee drinkers at Starbucks in London (The Undercover Economist).

I'm not sure whether Freakonomics is something I'll invest in - I suspect Harford's book has already successfully introduced me to the basics of economic theory. I'd quite like to move on to something higher, which will be made easier as each chapter in said book is very well referenced, so there's plenty of further reading.

 

[Digital Punk]

It does sound quite good, but that's when Snakes on a Plane starts showing at the cinema.

They've made a film about estate agents going on holiday?

 

[crystaline]

GAh I ready this book and loved it... wish there was a way I could see this

 

[nige]

GAh I ready this book and loved it... wish there was a way I could see this

I suppose there's a chance it might appear on the beeb's website, if not now then in the future.

 

[astralcars]

I'm looking forward to seeing more stuff along the lines of his 'Dear Economist' columns. It's cool how entertaining these popular-econ articles and recent books can be despite drawing on a predictable set of ideas.

 

[nige]

What I think is good about Harford is that the concepts are put into a context that is very easy to understand. Having read the book it makes me cringe (even more) when I see certain policy decisions that simply won’t work. Hopefully this series will have a similar quality.