How Bad Economics Killed Millions

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"Yes Prime Minister" made a joke about smoking & tax money all those years ago and the irony is it still holds true today

When learning political science independently, my father told me "the first rule of politics is to forget what you know about economics". Even when economic policy is talked about. Those on both sides can benefit from not giving the whole economic picture to their citizens.

This is why ethics and shared morals are so important within science. Science without ethics leads to the ends justifying the means.

The answer to whether to Bin or to not Bin the Maccas wrappers is that it takes less work for you to do it, than it does for the worker to walk over to your table, and then do it. Minimizing how much work something takes is good economic policy.

As a PhD student in economics I‘m so glad you made this video! It‘s a fascinating field but too often people and especially politicians act like an economic theory is a law of nature and subsequently make stupid decisions.

This is about broken window paradoxes. You don't break a window so the repair guy can keep his job. If the window is not broken, then the repair guy can find gainful employment in something that is actually productive.

I read a book many years ago that stated economics had some serious fundamental flaws. One flaw in economic models is the implicit assumption a person has all the relevant information available when making a decision. I think it can be shown this assumption is false, everyone operates in a 'fog of life' were we each only know a limited amount of information before making a decision. The 'fog of life' is much like the 'fog of war' good military historians talk about when military plans are made. Also Moltke's dicta should always apply to any economic scheme: "No plan survives contact with the enemy".

That trolley problem analogy cracked me up!

As a Freshman in college majoring in economics it's really encouraging to hear being an economist made him need therapy lol

So if your advertised therapists prevent suicides, are they good for the economy?

I have to admit that's the most... unique... solution to the Trolley Problem I've heard.

"What is best for the individual is often not what is best for a society" While it's still true, given the context you probably meant economy and conflated economy and society, which shouldn't be done. Many things that are good for the economy are bad for the society.

“…what is best for the individual is often not what is best for a society.” I'm not fond of the implicatation that "what is best for society" is judged by some as what's best for the economy. But I do love the economist's take on the Trolley Problem, thouigh did they consider the insurance and liability costs too?

If you don't find a means of multiplying your money, you will wake up one day and realize that the money you thought you had, had been exhausted. Investment is a ladder to climb the financial wall.

I've had that discussion as in Portugal (where I'm from) we leave our dirty platters in the mall on the table for someone to pick up, yet in Poland (where I live) everyone puts them in the bin. We are assuming mc donalds can pay, but for a small business hiring anothet person may lead to bankruptcy. I had a small bar 10years and only survived because who worked for me multitasked

Amazing video! Find it fascinating to see how economic policies truly impact the lives of people, for better or worse

Self-service such as bussing your own table reduces business expenses and usually results in lower prices to the consumer, which is why it is common. Nobody is forced to clean up after themselves, and some people don't, but it is commonly understood to be the most efficient system, and compliance is generally granted. Most of the civility that makes life reasonably bearable is a matter of courtesy, not obligation.

Your analogy at the end reminded me one of my seventh grade teachers telling the class that he never emptied his tray at fast food restaurants because he didn’t want to contribute to unemployment 😂

Ah, bringing up housing was a poor choice, to demonstrate problem capital inflow... There are other policy based restrictions on house building. Take zoning, unwillingness of employers to promote work from home, interest rates or even environmental policies and copyright (I'm not joking. Where I live, you need permission of the architect, who created the blueprints, to make changes to house you own). I'm not saying, that this inflow of money from people, who are able to command greater income is not to blame here, but I'd argue, there are many more intervening causes for this particular situation.