COVID-19 and Economic Narratives

Should the pandemic change how we think about the economy?

Produced by Hobbie Stuart

Artwork by Jacob Cob

© 2020 Unlearning Economics

I am an academic economist from the UK who has long been critical of the economics profession and how economics is used in public policy. Mostly the channel will cover economics with a critical perspective but I aim to educate people about economics in the process, so I'll try to explain key concepts and ideas along the way. That way, even if you disagree with aspects of the videos you will hopefully learn something from them. Subscribe for more!

References (in rough order of appearance):

Don't believe the myth that we must sacrifice lives to save the economy, Jonathan Portes.

Trump Considers Reopening Economy, Over Health Experts’ Objections, NYT.

Covid19 presents stark choices between life, death and the economy, The Economist.

Economic crash could cost more life than coronavirus, says expert, The Times.

Coyle, Diane. (2014). GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History. Princeton University Press.

- Quality adjustments in the IT sector pp. 87-90

- Environmental adjustments pp. 115-117

- Services, unproductive labour, USSR growth statistics pp. 10-11

- Simon Kuznets’ views: pp. 13-14

Finance, social value, and the rhetoric of GDP, Jacob Assa. Finance and Society 4 (2), 144-58

The NHS at Capacity, Christopher Cook

What Everyone’s Getting Wrong About the Toilet Paper Shortage, Will Oremus

More on supply chains from FT correspondent Greg Callus

Correia, Sergio and Luck, Stephan and Verner, Emil, Pandemics Depress the Economy, Public Health Interventions Do NotEvidence from the 1918 Flu (March 30, 2020). Available at SSRNor

The CostofThriving IndexReevaluating the Prosperity of the American Family. Oren Cass, American Compass.

Gough, Ian (1972) Marx's theory of productive and unproductive labour. New left review, I/76 . pp. 4772. ISSN 00286060

Graeber, David (2018). Bullshit Jobs: A Theory. Simon & Schuster.

Making the future count, Diane Coyle & Benjamin MitraKahn. Indigo Prize Entry 2017.

‘We can’t go back to normal’how will coronavirus change the world?, Peter C Baker.

As Congress Pushes a $2 Trillion Stimulus Package, the “How Will You Pay For It?” Question Is Tossed in the Trash, Stephanie Kelton.

We Can’t Return to Capitalism as Usual After This Crisis, Abi Wilkinson.

Sajid Javid tweet

On austerity and the pandemic:

And so the appalling human consequences of the austerity experiment become clear, Jonathan Portes.