CBCInvisibleHand

The Invisible Hand Musical Finale

The Invisible Hand Musical Finale (to the tune of the Mexican Hat Dance)

Lyrics by Matthew Lazin-Ryder

There’s Marxian, Feminist, Technocrat, Georgism, Islamic, Binary, Green.
Supply-side and Sraffian, Thermal, Post-Keynsian - none of them fit the mainstream.
There’s nothing too wrong, with once in a while, thinking outside of the box.
Just remember the word that is used to describe them is utterly “heterodox”.

Even inside the mainstream world, there’s plenty of diff-e-rent bits.
There’s Micro and Macro, and experimental and even econometrics.

Meet Dan Ariely

Dan Ariely teaches economics at Duke University. His research in the field of behavioural economics is helping to define the next generation of Homo Economicus, and how this “model” human deals with cheating, texting, and other irrational but predictable behaviours.

Photo Credit: KK via Photopin cc

Meet Frances Woolley

Frances Woolley is an economist who teaches at Carleton University in Ottawa. She writes frequently for the Worthwhile Canadian Initiative blog on the topic of incentives, and contributes to the Globe and Mail’s Economy Lab.

Photo Credit: Luther Caverly, via Carleton University Media Relations

Three Strikes Laws

In Episode Nine, we hear from Vanessa Wellington. Her father, Herbert Stovall, was a police officer who was killed in the line of duty. You can read about her father’s story, and the possible influences of a perverse incentive within the “three strikes law,” in this archived article from the Lodi-News Sentinel.

Meet veterinarian Koharik Arman

Dr. Koharik Arman is a Vancouver veterinarian. In Episode Nine she spoke to us about her concerns that the dog show system may provide a perverse incentive to breed dogs which have genetic infirmities, though they outwardly look like they are top of their class. She published an article on this subject in the Canadian Veterinary Journal.

On Bees and Babysitting

In Episode Eight: The Paradox of Thrift we discuss a pivotal article about the Capitol Hill Babysitting Co-op, which was written by Joan and Richard Sweeney, and a poem entitled The Fable of the Bees, written in 1705 by Bernard Mandeville.

You’ll have to check out the show to see how they all connect!

Meet Robert Shiller

Robert Shiller is a Keynesian economist, and professor at Yale University. He has written extensively about the work of John Maynard Keynes, The Paradox of Thrift, and how he feels it all applies to modern global economics.

Photo Credit: Princeton Public Library via Photopin cc

Meet John Maynard Keynes….

Here’s our economic consultant Stephen Gordon visiting the former home of John Maynard Keynes in London.

In Episode Eight, we get to know a bit about Keynes’ theories and the school of economics he inspired.

Photo Courtesy of Stephen Gordon

Meet Kalpona Akter

Kalpona Akter is a labour activist with the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity. She started work in garment factories when she was 12, enduring long hours, dangerous and abusive conditions, and a lack of basic workers’ rights.

Now she campaigns for better wages, recognition of the right to organize, and higher safety standards.

Better Work Haiti

Better Work is a labour and business development partnership of the International Labour Organization and the International Financial Corporation, which audits working conditions in factories operating in countries like Haiti, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam. The organization aims to improve compliance with labour standards, and the competitiveness of global supply chains, by working with factory operators and conducting compliance audits.