Thorstein Veblen podcast
This is from Economics in Ten podcast, season two, episode one. Veblen coined ‘conspicuous consumption’: the idea that people buy expensive things partly to signal status rather than for their intrinsic utility. His challenge to the assumption of rational, utility-maximising consumers is surprisingly modern and maps neatly onto the behavioural economics content of the spec. He was also a rather eccentric character, which helps. Pete and Gav clearly enjoy the material and it s
Karl Marx podcast
This is from Economics in Ten podcast, season one, episode five. This is one of the longer episodes in the series and it earns its runtime. Pete and Gav do a good job of separating what he actually argued from what has been done in his name. The episode covers exploitation, surplus value, alienation, and the historical materialist framework. Worth being aware that some students will arrive with strong pre-existing views, which can make the discussion richer or trickier depend
David Ricardo podcast
This is from Economics in Ten podcast, season one, episode four. Ricardo gave us two of the most important ideas in the subject: comparative advantage (the theoretical foundation for the case for free trade) and the labour theory of value (which would later heavily influence Marx). Pete and Gav explain comparative advantage clearly, which is useful because students often find it counterintuitive. There’s also good context on the Corn Laws controversy, which links comparative