Michael and Us: PhD in Freakonomics
We're still not entirely sure what the mega-bestselling 2005 book "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" was about, but it seems to have had something to do with arguing that economics is all about incentives.
June 26, 2021
50 min
829 of 1,867
June 26, 2021
Michael and Us: PhD in Freakonomics
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Jacobin Episodes Around June 26, 2021
Episode 829 of 1,867 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
Michael and Us: PhD in Freakonomics
Summary
<p>We're still not entirely sure what the mega-bestselling 2005 book "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" was about, but it seems to have had something to do with arguing that economics is all about incentives. The 2010 anthology film adaptation FREAKONOMICS explores this thin thesis across segments directed by such documentary legends as Eugene Jarecki, Alex Gibney, and (ugh) Morgan Spurlock... but its "counterintuitive" take on capitalism ends up reinforcing some ugly ideas. PLUS: the wacky institution that is the Canadian Senate, and the long right-wing preoccupation with postmodernism.</p><p>"How postmodernism became the universal scapegoat of the era" by Richard Seymour - <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/international/2021/06/how-postmodernism-became-universal-scapegoat-era" rel="nofollow">https://www.newstatesman.com/international/2021/06/how-postmodernism-became-universal-scapegoat-era</a></p>
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