Why “Don’t You Understand Economics?” Is a Con

“That's just basic economics.”
It's a phrase that gets used quite a lot to shut down arguments about wages, rent, taxation and inequality. But what happens when the research contradicts the textbook?

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Economics can tell us a lot about the world. But it's worth asking which version of economics we're being asked to believe, and whether the evidence still supports it.

CHAPTERS
00:00 - 01:12 Intro
01:12 - 03:06 What is Economics 101?
03:06 - 04:45 Minimum Wages & Employment
04:45 - 06:19 Industry Backlash Aside
06:19 - 10:52 The myth of Homo-Economicous
10:52 - 13:00 A Failure of the Collective Imagination
13:00 - 15:32 Robust vs Dated Economics
15:32 - 16:05 How this channel is funded!
16:05 - 17:21 The Reply For "Economics 101"
17:21 - 17:50 Outtakes

Research & further reading
Card, D. & Krueger, A. B. (1994).
“Minimum Wages and Employment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.” American Economic Review, 84(4), 772–793. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2118030

Kahneman, D. & Tversky, A. (1979).
“Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk.” Econometrica, 47(2), 263–291.https://doi.org/10.2307/1914185

Young, C., Varner, C., Lurie, I. Z. & Prisinzano, R. (2016).
“Millionaire Migration and Taxation of the Elite: Evidence from Administrative Data.” American Sociological Review, 81(3), 421–446. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122416639625

Cristobal Young et al. (2016)
“Millionaire Migration and Taxation of the Elite: Evidence from Administrative Data.” American Sociological Review, 81(3), 421–446. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122416639625

Arun Advani, David Burgherr and Andy Summers (2023)
“Taxation and Migration by the Super-Rich.” https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4568741

Tim Besley and Peter Hennessy (2009)
“The Global Financial Crisis - Why Didn’t Anybody Notice?” British Academy Review, Issue 14. https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publishing/review/14/british-academy-review-global-financial-crisis-why-didnt-anybody-notice/

Justin Kruger and David Dunning (1999)
“Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(6), 1121–1134. https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-3514.77.6.1121

Nobel Prizes referenced in the video
Daniel Kahneman - Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, 2002
Richard H. Thaler - Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, 2017
David Card - Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, 2021


I’m Barry Ferns – a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.

This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.

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