I'm an Economics teacher, ask me anything

[Phineyj]

I'm also half way through quarantine after catching Covid so I've finished all my marking for the first time in approximately ever and am bored bored bored. What have you always wanted to know about Economics but never dared ask?

Yes capitalism is part of the problem but then, the formerly Communist economies were huge polluters back in the day, partly due to the difficulty of protest. I think Economics does have some solutions such as carbon pricing and carbon taxes. But whether it would be politically possible to impose the level of carbon taxes requited for genuine change is probably a more relevant question.

Cat but he could be a fifth columnist and infiltrate the City from within (I have always wondered about the private incomes and stock portfolios of those protestors by the way -- they don't seem to need to work, do they?)

How is human behaviour factored into economic thinking? Do you think economists understand psychology/sociology/anthropology well enough?
Are there some economic thinkers that are not respected/taught? If not, why not?
Do you teach how economies work in socialist states?
If aliens landed from outer space what do you think they would say about how we structure ourselves economically? Assuming they are friendly.

Economics always fascinated me but I don't think I can wrap my head around it.

Oooh ooooh

I always wish I knew more about economics.

Here goes -

During lockdown people stopped buying non-essential stuff because the shops closed
This meant the economy went a bit to shit because no one buying stuff means no work for certain people
So when we unlocked, the govt was desperately trying to get people back out spending money (buying stuff they don't really need?)
But to stop climate change we need to stop unnecessary consumerism, travel less, be more self sufficient.
This seems at odds with the average Western economic model?

So I guess my question is - can we tackle climate change while we have capitalism?

Thank you, I share your concern about carbon pricing and taxes. We are asking people to endorse something that will cost more today in order to deliver future benefits that are more abstract. Is there anything in economic history that might help us understand better how to deliver this?

Also (sorry greedy) - can you recommend a good podcast for someone who would like to understand more about economics but really doesn't know any basics? 🙏

WhatsWrong, what a fascinating, multi part question. Firstly, the inflation. This seems to be mostly cost push inflation. BREXIT has increased costs, Covid has increased costs and fuel prices have gone right up (we are a net oil and gas importer so at the mercy of our fuel vendors - so not great that we have to buy a lot of it from Russia - also we annoyed the Norwegians over BREXIT). Inflation will probably peak around 5% early next year but everyone's inflation rate is different so some people who need to buy a lot of energy for instance, are going to be in a pickle. Inflation also tends to cause upwards pressure on wages as people worry about cost of living. The pandemic caused supply shortages due to factory shutdowns especially in China and now there are aot of goods stuck in the system, container ships that can't dockyard etc. The delivery system has constipation!

There is a bit of demand pull inflation due to people not spending during the pandemic too. I just bought a games table that we would have liked in spring 2020 (they weren't available then). Finally, inflation has been so low (or negative - deflation) for so long, people aren't used to it.

The UK labour market. The rise in economic activity seems to have even driven by people over 55 taking early retirement (a significant fraction of people who didn't lose their jobs in 2020 or who were furloughed saved a bunch of money and may have been able to pay down their mortgages). There are lots of labour shortages but the areas of work aren't attractive (hospitality, HGV driving, care) so people aren't applying and there is no longer a ready supply of EU migrants to fill the vacancies cheaply. The Financial Times and the Resolution Foundation have both brought out reports recently which are worth a read. The impact on women in particular is inconclusive - the move to home working has benefitted some (I've been able to teach my lessons on Teams for the last 10 days) but brought new pressures too (some colleagues couldn't teach from home in 2020 as they live in small shared flats or have babies).

Argh! The rise in economic inactivity (people who could work but are choosing not to).

neweconomics.org/section/podcasts Cava I've heard Ayesha Thomas-Smith a few times and while she's not an economist, she asks good questions and is accessible.

@TreborBore I would start with the ideas of Arthur Pigou and Ronald Coase I think. Also read When the Lights Went Out (Andy Beckett).

Cava, can't remember who I'm quoting, but capitalism is the worst system - apart from all the others. We need our stuff to last longer and to be able to fix it. We could then develop jobs in repair and maintenance to replace the retail jobs (for econ history fans, the William Morris book News From Nowhere gives a flavour of what could possibly go wrong). You're right that if we just stopped consuming, the knock on effects on jobs would be awful in the short term. Some suggest a Universal Basic Income is the way forward.

@Phineyj

neweconomics.org/section/podcasts Cava I've heard Ayesha Thomas-Smith a few times and while she's not an economist, she asks good questions and is accessible.

Thank you!

@Phineyj

Cat but he could be a fifth columnist and infiltrate the City from within (I have always wondered about the private incomes and stock portfolios of those protestors by the way -- they don't seem to need to work, do they?)

Ah you haven't met my child. Subtlety and low profile are not really their middle names. They are a disrupter and challenge authority. Not in a detention, unpleasant sort of a way, but the sort who challenges and changes school policies and is going to be the child in your class who asks the clever but awkward questions.

jewel do you want tobe my student cool questions. We do a little bit of comparative exonomic systems at the beginning of the course, but even the formerly Communist states mostly have some form of market economy now. When I studied at Leeds in the 90s it was all Marxism, but that has gone the way of the dodo (which in some ways is a shame as some of the concepts were useful - I was watching 'Womanhood' on the BBC last night and they were interviewing a young woman who claimed cosmetic surgery was entirely her free choice - the words 'false consciousness' popped into my head). A thinker whom I admire but often gets left out of textbooks (even when they're discussing her ideas!) is the 20th century Cambridge economist Joan Robinson. Now that was one stroppy lady but she knew her stuff! Elinor Ostrom is another (first and so far only woman to win the Nobel Prize for Economics). She couldn't even train as an economist due to sexism.

There is a lot of sexism in the profession still so if they ever incorporate women maybe there could be more integration with other disciplines. Economic history has resurged though, which is pleasing.

Sorry for typos

I love those students Cat (I think I was one). Mine are sooooo polite.

jewel the discipline of behavioural economics incorporates insights from psychology. One practical example is that pensions are now opt out not opt in.

Regarding the aliens, I think they might have questions about the plastic. They would think we are terrible slobs too as presumably they'd have had to dodge all the space junk floating around in orbit. It'd probably be like visiting a teenager's bedroom.

@Phineyj

I love those students Cat (I think I was one). Mine are sooooo polite.

I would like to think they are polite but the sort of child who before you know it the lesson has gone from discussing the American Civil War to 10 mins later Boris Johnson at Peppa Pig World and the teacher is left wondering quite what happened.

You're right that if we just stopped consuming, the knock on effects on jobs would be awful in the short term.

Should we be trying to move to a different basis for our economy then? I see zero discussion anywhere in mainstream politics about the incompatibility between a consumption based system and climate change

Politicians need to get re-elected!

Thanks for this thread Op, really interesting. My DD 15 enjoys Maths and curious about Economics as an A level. I will buy her the Dorling K book for Christmas.

Cat, OK, well I can handle those types of students but they should probably bear in mind that that there is a heck of lot of content in Econ A-level so their classmates and teacher may not entirely appreciate it if every lesson devolves into one of those. There is an element of needing to know what the theory says in detail before you can critique it.

Did you do an economics degree?