Economics: Introduction: Social Media & Audio/Video

"Mankiw's 10 principles of economics, translated for the uninitiated", by Yoram Bauman, http://www.standupeconomist.com. Presented at the AAAS humor session, February 16, 2007. 

 Steven D. Levitt is an economist. Stephen J. Dubner is a writer. They co-authoredFreakonomics, a book about cheating teachers, bizarre baby names, self-dealing Realtors, and crack-selling mama’s boys. They figured it would sell about 80 copies. Instead, it has sold 4 million, in 35 languages. Then they wrote SuperFreakonomics, with stories about drunk walking, the economics of prostitution, and how to stop global warming. It hasn’t quite sold 4 million copies yet but it’s getting there. A lot of other stuff has happened too. A blog. A radio show. A movie. Lectures. Even Jon Stewart — and Beauty and the Geek. This is the place where all that stuff continues to happen. 

Besides the blogs, podcasts, online courses and Youtube videos included in this guide, information can also be found in other social media.  A number of economists are on Twitter and have their own blogs or FaceBook pages.  Topsy.com is a new aggregator for social media - experiment with it using the suggested search terms and see what resources it results in.

MIT World — A Primary Source of Great Ideas on the Web Which ideas and innovations can change the world? MIT World™ answers that question by publishing key presentations by the MIT faculty and guest speakers who are shaping the future. These free, on-demand videos, available 24/7 to viewers worldwide, reflect and extend MIT’s educational mission—to provide the best education in science, technology, and related fields—to engaged learners anytime, anywhere.

About Yoram Bauman, Ph.D.  The Stand-Up Economist

"Yes I really do have a Ph.D. in economics (Univ. of Washington, 2003, here’s my CV), and of course I went to Reed College. I live in Seattle with my wife Laura. Some FAQs are below, but if you’re here on business—i.e., you want to hire me—here are links to my comedy bio, some hi-res photos, my technical requirements, some testimonials from past shows, and stories about me in print/radio/TV."

Jodi Beggs is a Ph.D. candidate in Business Economics at Harvard University.  Her primary areas of interest are behavioral economics, incentives and consumer behavior, but she is also very interested in analyzing the impact of public policies and social programs, especially as far as education is concerned. (Studying incentives is really her true calling, as evidenced by this anecdote.) In addition, she is particularly interested in the economics of the music business and how consumer psychology affects the dynamics of the industry.