An economist walks into a bar | Robert Litan | TEDxKC
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Litan's talk explores the surprising role economists have played in the development of the internet economy -- and quite possibly your love life.
As an economist and attorney, Litan has had nearly four decades of experience in the worlds of the law, economic research and policy, and as an executive in the private, public and government sectors. He has directed economic research at three major organizations - The Brookings Institution, The Kauffman Foundation and Bloomberg Government - and authored or co-authored 27 books on a variety of economic topics. His most recent book, “The Trillion Dollar Economists,” will be published by Wiley Press this September.
Litan currently is a non-resident senior fellow at Brookings; counsel to Korein Tillery, a law firm based in St. Louis and Chicago specializing in large case litigation; chief economist at Main Street Genome, a D.C.-based startup providing financial analytics to small businesses; and a regular contributor to the Think Tank blog published by The Wall Street Journal.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
Пікірлер: 261
*"The curious task of economics is to teach a man how little he knows about what he imagines he can design."* *_- Friedrich Hayek_*
@anndds
3 жыл бұрын
And yet everything that economics studies was designed and instantiated through property laws, a stable state, the rule of law itself, legal procedures that benefits some type of people over others, giving a lot more power to people who work with capital vs people who work with their labor, Etc.
@angelusvastator1297
3 жыл бұрын
Scarcity prevails.
@marckaden1564
2 жыл бұрын
you probably dont give a damn but does anybody know of a method to get back into an Instagram account? I stupidly lost the account password. I appreciate any assistance you can offer me.
@leonelryker6834
2 жыл бұрын
@Marc Kaden instablaster ;)
I am a economics student. studying for my exam right now I needed a motivational speech And this one was the best
@priyaneupane-bd6zx
10 ай бұрын
is this poetry
economist lives matter
@darkangel13915
6 жыл бұрын
lmao
@karimsayed6292
4 жыл бұрын
Like alot
@ambertargaryen5517
2 жыл бұрын
WHY THIS COMMENT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS WRITTEN IN 2021?
@KS-bh8gt
2 жыл бұрын
Damn this comment did not age well.
@afaqjanan7817
Жыл бұрын
Yes 🤚
Proud to be an economist! :) WEEE!! Respect!!
@drelijahmikail3916
8 жыл бұрын
LaShawn Gray So that people will buy things they don't need with money they don't have to impress people they don't like?
@vulture165
8 жыл бұрын
You seem to be confusing economics with marketing.
@Elfrania
8 жыл бұрын
There is marketing notions in the talk.
@vulture165
8 жыл бұрын
Not sure of the relevance of your point Elfrania: Michael asserts that economics exists to get people to buy more stuff. That's a fundamental misunderstanding, and one that we who love economics bristle at.
@RizwanKhan-uw7cj
6 жыл бұрын
Ross McGlothlin microeconomics has paved rhe way 4 marketting
Artificial scarcity is an interesting notion. I would agree that when I introduce a self imposed constraint on how I spend my time, it ends up helping me be way more productive. I used to do this a lot with school work. I would often procrastinate while doing school work so creating a deadline for how long I would study would provide me a stronger bang for my minute of studying. Cool video and ted talk!
@tuckerbugeater
Жыл бұрын
Con Artist
I have always wondered why we have so many people learning Economics and so little Economists!!
@krunchykarim
4 жыл бұрын
I agree. I am 13 and am in Yr 7 in New South Wales. A lot of my mates in 11 chose Eco and Commerce but don't sit the tests. Strange. But you do need eco for Lawyer. That might be a reason.
@detroithockey5522
4 жыл бұрын
That’s because economics students can work in a variety of different fields once they graduate and go on to find jobs easily. That is why you don’t see a lot of economics students become economists.
@jlistergaming7880
4 жыл бұрын
DetroitHockey55 absolutely
@magicdaveable
4 жыл бұрын
My son is an "Economist" but this global pandemic put the brakes on his job prospects. He was in the process of taking exams for certification and licensing but don't ask me for what. O do know tgat after this global depression ends his career path loojs very stable and lucrative. He majored in Economics out of interest and not specifically as a career path.
@zhouye7647
3 жыл бұрын
well, to be an economist you need at least a PhD. That rules out many people already.
great speaker, made the topic really interesting.
Economics (/ɛkəˈnɒmɪks, iːkə-/) is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work.
Yes, economists deserve some respect
That's awesome talk
So econommists (smack) They economize (smack)
@krunchykarim
4 жыл бұрын
Hahaha lol. But you have to agree that the speech was good.
Love this video, amazing!
I work for a major delivery company in the United States. one of the biggest reasons they do have regulations for the Trucking industry is safety. from tires to breaks horns, lights, and to have a predictable route. it sounds dumb but it's very important. Life Safety is very important!
Brilliant!
Amazing presentation! It's sad how Economics has a subject is very underrated
Not gonna lie, the way he said "I think economists deserve some respect" made me want to pay up some respect
@tuckerbugeater
Жыл бұрын
tool
Thank you both for your honesty and integrity. You both mentioned that Monopoly is not Capitalism. Respectfully I would like to make a correction that Monopoly (Single Seller), Oligopoly (Few Sellers), Monopsony (Single Buyer) and Imperialism are the Dynamic Laws of capitalism. This is due to the fact of concentration and centralization of capital that have led to concentration of Wealth and Income over time. The resulted inequality of wealth and income mirrors the concentration of Political Power. Each billionaire has gained more political power over time than millions of middle-income Americans. Thus, the dynamics of capitalism is concentration of wealth and political power, i.e., not democratic.
Anyone else think his shirt is way too big?
@alicemarques3294
4 жыл бұрын
You're horrible 😂😂😂
@daka1272
4 жыл бұрын
He's an economist, he got a bigger shirt for the price of the smaller one
@CrazyKemo_0
3 жыл бұрын
To him it's the perfect size lol. Reminds me of my father.
@gursimarsahni8157
3 жыл бұрын
Well its economic
@samione
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah. This is Intellectual fashion.
thanks !!!
I still don't understand why the idea of government intervention is seen as bad. With airlines themselves being in an oligopolistic market surely without the use of government intervention price fixing cartels will/have formed leading to this market which should be competitive to acting as though it is a monopoly. Additionally if the market itself was seen as contestable, William Baumol himself even said that contestable markets do not act as though competitive. Due to consumers needing time to respond to a new firm entering the market at a lower price the idea of perfect contestability is about as realistic as perfect competition.
@johnlewis6526
3 жыл бұрын
I agree
This whole talk is thoroughly contained within the notion that the Market is a humane and healthy way of dealing with resources and human interaction.
@feartheghus
5 жыл бұрын
cro4591 it’s the only moral way, it’s the most efficient way known to man, it’s the most just way known to man, and it’s don’t far more for mankind than anything else (though to be exact I basically just said mankind has done more for mankind since “the market” is just the culmination of humans interacting and making choices with and of what to do with their labor, resources, skills, information, will, ideas etc. and everything else that is their property.)
@feartheghus
5 жыл бұрын
Do you have a better idea? If so you can always take it to the marketplace of ideas by stating it, describing it, and providing reason to follow/believe it. Thanks to freedom of speech, a basic human right we Americans take for granted, we have our right to choose what we do with out mental property, our ideas and thoughts, as we do with our other property. If you think that these rights are not important enough to be regarded above an idea that sounds smart but requires that these rights be infringed upon, be my guest to use your rights to demean your rights, as is your right.
Most of what he was explaining is behavioural economics which plays a key part in much of our lives; i would suggest anyone interested in this field and how it has come to prominance over the more mathematical based economics read 'MisBehaving' by richard thaler.
@rohanvaswani9418
6 жыл бұрын
CyanideShock it's microeconomics and gametheory not behavioural
@detectivetacox9293
5 жыл бұрын
@@rohanvaswani9418 No, its a mixture of both behavioral and microeconomics
@rohanvaswani9418
5 жыл бұрын
@@detectivetacox9293 Game Theory is Microeconomics...
@laurencesiegel9362
Жыл бұрын
Litan explains things much more skillfully than Thaler, who is a bit of a bore.
@joshua_here5849
Жыл бұрын
@@rohanvaswani9418 or micro economics uses game theory
Wow… that made my day… old ted talks are much much intelligent…
Ideas shape the course of history. ~John Maynard Keynes. economist 1883 - 1946
@marblegrimes7010
8 жыл бұрын
+darthjay I wish you live in interesting times, a Chinese curse.Ideas shape the course of history, for good or bad. That's a observation, not a positive statement
@nikzanzev2402
8 жыл бұрын
Keynes also said that "economists give themselves too easy a job if they only tell us that the sea is going to be calm after a storm." Which is, unfortunately, what modern economists have been telling us for about half a century now... let the market rule, and if it is rough now, it will be better as the markets "naturally" recover. Do not kid yourself, Keynes was not an economist in the modern sense of the word... He was an intellectual first and foremost, but he had an interest in economics and used his intelligence to make money to fuel his interests.
@kevinphillips150
4 жыл бұрын
And the world has seen the results of such ideas. Thank you, but no thank you.
Thank you economist ...👍👍👍
thank you sir
Author, shoot more of these videos. Everything is super
Great!
The great miracle in online advertising has really been though, finding a way that people actually click on those things.
I did a Masters in Economics terrific subject very interesting but very hard to get a job exactly in that area.Economists jobs few available . A lot in up in banks etc but not related to Economics
@mwan6865
3 жыл бұрын
Any recommendation for a fresh graduate sir?
@mmcguire8710
3 жыл бұрын
@@mwan6865 I've had success in actuarial roles and solution architect positions.
@jamilajulie5717
3 жыл бұрын
I always thought economist were the best being business consultant. I never knew before that it is hard to find jobs available since there are many startups and new business need more strategy as the competition arose.
@johnlewis6526
3 жыл бұрын
It’s better to get a PhD in economics than a masters I think
Don't go to the comments
@HustleSenseiMikey
4 жыл бұрын
OccupieD Something want to be my goth gf
Economics is awesome
Micro-economics... respect, perhaps begrudgingly. Macro-economics.... you can beg and plead, but you've got some real balls to even dare to ask for respect.
@micirei
5 жыл бұрын
Please explain yourself
Poor video title. Please change it "Why Respect Economists".
@krunchykarim
4 жыл бұрын
That is Ted's fault. I agree though.
@aamir1290
3 жыл бұрын
The only reason I clicked it was because of the interesting name tbh
Great
Yes
Nice to know the underpinnings of some of our background services.
I feel Economists should be or are going to be one of the highly demanded jobs in the internet age.
@bharatmadhok6773
2 жыл бұрын
You are correct that is how it's trending.
William Vickrey is not a Colombian economist. He's a Canadian economist who born in Columbia city, Canada.
@rikkiromana
4 жыл бұрын
Javi Garcia Was born in British Columbia
damn he got " ghost busters"
''economists deserve respect'' - depends of the economists
@kutie216
5 жыл бұрын
Vlayde S Yeah not Keynesians lol
nice videos
Economics is the study of human behavior
@feartheghus
5 жыл бұрын
Dan Surman it’s a study of it yeah, it doesn’t include all of human nature but it studies plenty of it.
nice video
And all these 'fantastic' economic theories brought us to the precipice- a complete climate breakdown and human extinction in the next few generations! Bravo!
ive said it before: economics=psychology
@toukka4
4 жыл бұрын
And mathematics
@2late4coffee
3 жыл бұрын
economics is way more wider than psychology so your equation is totally wrong
@ronin6158
3 жыл бұрын
@@2late4coffee id say econ can be viewed as a subset of collective psychology/sociology. This is just about definitions and what and how much we include.
@2late4coffee
3 жыл бұрын
@@ronin6158 I respect your opinion, this two discipline has common interests together.
A physicist walks into h-bar
@karimsayed6292
4 жыл бұрын
Ryan Johnson 😂😂😂😂
@karimsayed6292
4 жыл бұрын
h/2 pi
those pants..........economist
Moneyball was a so so movie.
his background is like alexander hamilton but in modern age lol
William Vickrey from Columbia, not Colombia!
We hate online advertising... thanks economists.
@karsy579
8 жыл бұрын
But you love the effects of that advertising.
@mpontsasa
8 жыл бұрын
Shor, this was a joke.
@darkangel13915
6 жыл бұрын
nope. you're right
@jonathanallison785
5 жыл бұрын
at least you dont have to pay a subscription service to google on every search
The wins in an economist's eyes are losses for the majority. ...outside of online dating of course.
I couldn't stop noticing the smacking of his lips after almost every sentence -_-
@abstractapproach634
7 жыл бұрын
Moozy yup didn't last two minutes
@gjkdfh442
7 жыл бұрын
i didnt even notice that LOL, im dead
@SamuelB818
7 жыл бұрын
Moozy ya that shits annoying
@lazur1
6 жыл бұрын
Mic's too hot and too close. You wouldn't hear that if you & he had a private conversation.
@MyFlykidd
5 жыл бұрын
Moozy I just noticed it and now I’m mad! I can’t unnotice it. 😂
That works with stimulus and stocks too
I am here to say Thank You on Behalf of Jeff Bezos
Economists should be feared.
@maggiealdrich7055
3 жыл бұрын
Why’s that? Asking out of curiosity
And he doesn't mention the negative externalities.
So economists are great at everything but the economy. The question is do economists think about the moral implications of their schema or just the financial implications?
Thank you 13*
Indirect advertisement for ivies and Stanford (duck kids!)
Eeconomic and Social Council
👍🏼
and here I was regretting choosing Economics as a major
@xlysxy
6 жыл бұрын
Economics is not a real major, you need a PhD to get a job.
@pishoinassif6029
4 жыл бұрын
@@xlysxy Not true. It depends on the status of the economy whether you should pursue a Ph.D in economics or not
@xlysxy
4 жыл бұрын
@@pishoinassif6029 you should never do that, unless you're rich.
@MrJonespwnes
4 жыл бұрын
@@xlysxy look at the statistics... You're actually telling lies
@xlysxy
4 жыл бұрын
@@MrJonespwnes what statistics? Economics majors underemployment rate is 44%, based on the US census. Unemployment for Economic majors are 4.1%, when 2.1% was for all graduates. Median income for a bachelors only in economics is $45k for starting salaries, except is about $28k for outside big cities, this moves to be $65k and $42k mid career respectively with bachelors only. To be an economist you need a PhD, it's about $105k in median salary, but PhD in economics makes on average $95k. There are about 21,000 jobs as economists, based on the BLS. There are about 45k people getting economics degrees every year. I did a search on indeed for economist, and onlu 846 jobs popped up in the whole US. Most were working in a big city, for some government agency. I searched bachelors economics, and only 1,105 jobs showed, however, most jobs asked for math, engineering, statistics, business, accounting, or economics. So they weren't specifically requiring economics majors. Additionally jobs that paid higher wages asked for Masters or PhD level candidates with quite a bit of experience 5-7 or 10+ years experience for salaries 90-110k in big cities.
Sound as a Pound.
Sneeze at 10:17
So that people will buy things they don't need with money they don't have to impress people they don't like?
@riddlers91
8 жыл бұрын
Tylar durton
@feartheghus
5 жыл бұрын
No, so that people can eat, drink, be saved from diseases, have shelter and life Support, have weapons to protect oneself so effective that physical strength is no longer a requirement (allowing women more freedom and independence thanks to their second amendment right than women have ever had before, and doing the same with men) have good hygiene, learn more effectively and easily a greater variety of ideas and knowledge, travel quickly across large distances, have billions of different products at their fingertips if only they agree to serve their fellow man as their fellow man has agreed to serve them, and have all this cheaply and efficiently.
Not bad
And his wallet went into shock shrinkage mode
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
It Just buy automate
Does anybody else think that Jay Walker looks like Obama in white?
[989] ECONOMICS-EE [989] 🙂MANGO EARTHM🙂
I have been investing with mr Chris Russ, I came across some nice comments about him here on KZread and I gave him a try and honestly I didn't regret the move
the science of scarcity....= economics
@Prince91114
5 жыл бұрын
Prime social science
@ThirumalavasanGDamodaran
5 жыл бұрын
There is an original research finding on the title, 'Scarcity' by Sendhil Mullainathan & Eldar Shafir. Recommended reading.
Why is his shirt so darn big
I can't really find the point of this presentation. It just shows which decisions have been influenced by economists. So what?! You can find examples of decisions that have been influenced by some group for every single profession.
A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, "why the long face" ?
That's all very interesting, but he speaks as though economists are all so underappreciated that they get spat on in the street or something. I missed the part where he explains why it's necessary to pity economists. Are they all living in squalor while they stave off disasters that threaten us all?
@dwakeling1
8 жыл бұрын
+Bruhaha9 i wish they got spat on in the street
@Bruhaha9
7 жыл бұрын
Heaven forfend a professional should have her/his conclusions questioned.
@rhythmicrhyme
7 жыл бұрын
are you doing your diligence and hold yourself acccountable for your stupidity, unjust indignantion, undignify behavior and volunatary ignorance? Did you study for 20years in graduate and post graduate, did you study advance economics, know your basic ethics, law, reasoning, philosophy, mathematics without being paid and living on a cup of noodles? While dumb fucks like you leech, steal, lie, say bias and ignorant shit, self-entitle, useless, undignifying, unreasonable, etc. GET some self reflection and take at least some basic philosophy classes because god you are way too fucking stupid for me to even dignify your undignifying & absurd statemetns, but as a reasonable person I feel incline to get your pathetic ass to do some self reflection and basic research. Did you fucking do anything other than spread propoganda and say ignorant bias and self contradictory statements? FFS have some common decency and accountability you piece of retarded, ignorant, self-entitle, bias, ungrateful trash, clueless dipshit village moron with a pitchfork. FYI the majority of PHD were foriegn and came over poor as shit and deal with isolent mother fucking retards like you and were spit on like you are doing right now while creating entired industries and fixing all the problems while being underpaid and over work and given all the impossible task to solve while people like you are the cause to those fucking problems that's a fact among all MAJORS and intelligent people. YOU ARE THE FUCKING PROBLEM YOU IMBECILE. Take some basic logic class, philosophy, engineer, calculus, etc etc. Because you are a fucking complete dumbass without any sense of responsibility, awareness, or common decency. Also you should questioned yourself and make correct and valid connections, you imbecile.
That’s why too much regulation is bad for business it only benefits one side
because of economist you earn such amount of money)))he can even increase the amount
So bricks and mortars are gone?.?. Think about that one a few times.
Here are tales of great people applying economics and statistics for massive world changing ventures while here I am applying the same stuff to find the best crops to turn into wines in a farming simulator video game. Lol life is fun
Wow, too bad local businesses and grocery stores couldn't afford to hire a rock star economist to suck money and decent jobs out of local economies and into the multinationals, Asian manufacturers and rock star economists. We should all send thank you notes to the economists who made this economy and the support it gives to local businesses, jobs and investments possible. Or maybe not...
ok, so two engineers reinvented Vickrey's Nobel Prize-winning work --- doesn't that mean it wasn't that hard to think up? († I would have thought otherwise…auction theory seems like the only rigorous part of economic theory … just seems to go against his end conclusion. Since an economist _did not_ apparently come up with the idea to do a 6th-price auction or whatever Google does.) Want to hear the other side on Moneyball & deregulation.
@Crasshopperrr
8 жыл бұрын
This is also true of the Priceline founder: not an economist. Litan is just trying to give credit for someone else's work to economists because … he took some classes from them years before?
He can't find a shirt that fits ?
@MonikaMonikaaD
5 жыл бұрын
Shut up, bro
@sonnysingh2456
5 жыл бұрын
Because it's more economic to buy shirt that you will grow into.
@brantleystraub243
5 жыл бұрын
Spend your time worrying about yourself. You’ve literally contributed nothing but a waste of time with your comment.
how can a small board members of central banks decide the fate of country?
@akashnshaji1685
5 жыл бұрын
Just like some tiny bolts join a whole aircraft together.
@editorsphilosophynow3646
5 жыл бұрын
Which country?
Economists do like to imagine they contribute more than just making wildly inaccurate forecasts.
Market capitalism justifies it's existence through artificial scarcity. Then turns around and promotes "infinite consumption" and "infinite economic growth". Automation, technology, and technological unemployment increases production, efficiency, and abundance.
@johnlewis6526
3 жыл бұрын
But it destroys jobs right, what’s the point of having a strong economy if people aren’t able to reap the benefits
"An economist walks into a bar" Everybody leaves.
maybe cupid is in trouble because of its sustainability model of its customers probably because its forced somehow through agreements to share markets with other dating websites and apps which is a problem for those who are truly looking to find the right one because of the loop loop forever loop loop and loop here loop there might as well call it the loop business model of match no match of here there here there and so specifically for each site resulting in time consuming at cost of daters...then I age and age and age and still single but uglier *sigh whats the economy timeline for dating website boom...is it when everyone gets tired of online dating and never finding the right one forever...the non free website which some people cannot afford
Yeah, basically this guys doesn't prove anything. He just says economists have minor role in some online services developement - and sometimes he even connect 2 disconnected things to imply economist had a (crucial) role. He is highly overstating the economist role. Many, many other things took part in the development of those online services. I know this is tough time for economists since one can hold them responsible for crises but still ... just keep on working and thinking, and not on how to falsely find nice results to economists's work afterwards. And I wish all economists read Adam Smith, both The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations - not only excerpts from the latter.
@kevins6732
5 жыл бұрын
dont think that most of those studying to become economists are bothered by not getting enough respect. We know economics is the glue to civilisations, and that the importance of the job economists do is among, if not the highest importance per capita in the world. The problem one frequently runs into are those idiots who dont even have a bachelor within economics who are arguing like they have a phd under their belt. If you ever think something so complex is that easy then you are wrong
Economists are smart and intelligent people. Too bad they are not aware of the secondary consequence of their actions which are detrimental to the planet and the ecosystem and society as a whole.
Lol isn't it Okcupid?
social darwinism is coming, economist will be happy
B O R I N G!!!
Traveling Salesman 🛤️VRO 🥃PDP⏳TW 👨🏽💻AN 🚧📈
Tupacca101 month agoblogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/09/29/brookings-economist-resigns-under-pressure-from-warren/ just read this. He may be an educated man, but that doesn't mean you should trust him.
It's a great talk but me thinks he is assigning too much credit to economists when discussing Amazon's success. The regulations that existed in the transportation and airline industry were probably put in place by "socialist" economists of the post-war era who wanted to end price gouging by monopolies. So a new generation of economists made a "correction" - is that a big deal? It's like Nixon being credit for opening up China. Who the hell was responsible for isolating them? Every business transaction has an economic angle to it and that is obvious. To that extent economics plays a role in every transaction. But when economists continue to peddle proven failures like the Laffer curve, they bring discredit to the entire profession.
@austinblackburn8757
5 жыл бұрын
Explain how the laffer curve is disproven it's literally has happened in the us when Reagan dropped taxes the tax revenue went up. Of course eventually if dropped low enough it goes down and we have seen tax hikes that reduced tax revenue the laffer curve has seen real use.
I can't stand the size of his shirt.
@Tomasscarpatti
6 жыл бұрын
Tell me why!
@editorsphilosophynow3646
5 жыл бұрын
It's an economy of scale