Unlearning Economics

Dr Rosie Collington is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Organization at the University of Copenhagen. She is the co-author, along with Marianna Mazzucatto, of The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies. This is a scathing but balanced dive into how the consulting industry rips us off. It also makes a more fundamental point about the role it plays in an era when governments are increasingly hollowed out. We had a really wide-ranging chat about the book and some of the broader questions it raises, including what we do now.Originally recorded on 18th June 2024.

Jo Michell is a Professor of Economics at the University of West England, Bristol, and a friend of mine. We previously chatted about Keynesianism on the podcast, see here if you want a refresher:https://open.spotify.com/episode/70HlACXJTARA6bf7599vDM?si=8fb79491d4e24263Last year Jo, Natassia Nasciemento, Rob Calvert Jump, and James Meadway wrote a report on austerity in the UK so I was keen to chat to him again on an issue that is close to my heart. You can see the report here:https://progressiveeconomyforum.com/publications/the-macroeconomics-of-austerity/I'm releasing this now (25th June 2024) because it is relevant to the UK elections (4th July), where neither of the major parties have disavowed austerity and balanced budgets despite its dreadful failings. It was originally recorded on September 5th, 2023.

Dr Deema Awad and Dr Miriam Tresh are both Associate Professors at the Psychological and Behavioural Science Department at LSE, where I used to work and with which I am still affiliated. For a few years, Deema and Miriam have been working on a campaign to decolonise the department. We chat about what this means: including a broader range of thinkers, teachers, experimental participants, and students? Changing teaching and research practices? Rethinking the university model entirely?This was a very fun and collegial chat on a controversial topic. Enjoy!Originally recorded on June 11, 2024.

Michael Muthukrishna is an Associate Professor of Economics Psychology at the London School of Economics and therefore a colleague of mine. His book A Theory of Everyone: Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going does what it says on the tin: presents a theory of humanity which weaves between psychology, biology, sociology and economics. It's a big task to bring this all but the book is extremely readable and packed with insights. I had a really interesting conversation with Michael, you can find out more/order the book here:https://www.michael.muthukrishna.com/book/Originally recorded on February 6th, 2024.

Professor Elizabeth Popp Berman is known for her book Thinking like an Economist: How Efficiency Replaced Equality in U.S. Public Policy. This is an excellent book which looks at the influence of the economics profession, a topic which is close to my heart as I have my own book on the topic: The Econocracy.We had a fantastic discussion about economic expertise and I can't recommend her book enough!Originally recorded on Jan 22, 2024.

Duncan Weldon is a British economist who currently works at The Economist newspaper. He has previously worked at the BBC and the Resolution Group. He wrote a book on UK economic history called 'Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through'. We discussed what muddling through means, popular myths about British economic history, and whether we can do better. You can buy Duncan's book here: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/duncan-weldon/two-hundred-years-of-muddling-through/9780349144276/Twitter: https://twitter.com/DuncanWeldonSubstack: https://duncanweldon.substack.com/

James Plunkett is the author of a book called End State: 9 Ways Society Is Broken & How We Fix It. I read the book not too long ago and really loved it, so I invited James to join me for a chat. James and I ended up having an optimistic take on the problems facing the modern world, because we've seen and overcome similar scale challenges before.Originally recorded on August 2nd, 2023.

Dr Ganga Shreedhar is an Assistant Professor in Behavioural Science in the LSE Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. She is interested in ecology and the environment, including how it relates to human psychology and behaviour. We had a wide-ranging discussion about Ganga's academic background, her interest in the environment and how this has made her into a kind of nomad who has worked in many different disciplines. We discussed Ganga's (and my) current discipline of behavioural science and what it can contribute.Behavioural science has focused on the idea of 'Nudge': how small shifts in people's decision making environments can alter their behaviour. In a recent paper, Ganga, myself, and Stuart Mills argued that this may be limited for the environment because of what we call' brown sludge': the sea of restrictions and limitations individuals face when trying to behave pro-environmentally. You can find the paper here:https://osf.io/preprints/osf/yc4zgThis took us into a wide-ranging and in my opinion, extremely interesting conversation about the role of social science in promoting pro-environmental behaviours. We touched on climate (dis)information and media, car-centric cities, and degrowth. Enjoy!Originally recorded on 12th April 2024.

Dr Max Holleran is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Melbourne. He is focused on urban development including gentrification, tourism, and recently the YIMBY/NIMBY debate. Max wrote the book Yes to the City: Millennials and the Fight for Affordable Housing, which documents the rise of the YIMBY movement from San Francisco and beyond. Holleran takes an even-handed approach, trying to understand where they came from and their demands. He documents the pros and cons of the movement and where it may go from here. You can find Max's book below:https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691200224/yes-to-the-cityMax and I discussed the rise of the YIMBYs, including the YIMBY/NIMBY divide and why YIMBYism is a just cause in the face of arbitrary, dysfunctional, and exclusionary zoning laws. We then had a wide-ranging chat about cities and housing, which touched on cars, pollution, race, suburbia, the pandemic, and broader social issues. The latter was a somewhat unexpected direction for the conversation to turn but it allowed us to explore the limits of YIMBYism in its current form, which is a key theme of Max's book. Enjoy!Originally recorded on 9th April 2024.