Financial and Economic Videos

It is a FTotW tradition on the week before Thanksgiving that I talk about a video on the Internet that deals with either economics or personal finance. Last year, I took a very narrow approach with the Royal Society for the Arts video on SuperFreakonomics; the video combined the audio of the SuperFreakonomics authors’ RSA presentation with an animator working on a whiteboard. Several of you checked it out and/or sent it on to friends; the link was clicked over 250 times.

 

This year, instead of a single video, I wanted to highlight a few videos (and the less I type, the better)!

 

The Great Stagnation by Tyler Cowen: Our current economic malaise stems from our lack of innovation. Life from 1901-1951 changed radically (cars, electricity in the home, radio communication, airplanes, etc…); life from 1951-2001 got better, but the scale of the innovations slowed (where is the flying car!?). (17:50)

 

When Ideas Have Sex by Matt Ridley (Could also be titled “The Power of Trade in Bringing About New Ideas”): Our prosperity has much to do with our trade with each other and the sharing of ideas. By sharing ideas faster, we create new ideas and products to help improve our lives. (16:27)

 

Both of these videos are done in the TED format: one presenter has about 10-15 minutes to present their idea in an engaging format. There are plenty of TED videos covering all sorts of ideas. I encourage you to visit their website.

 

Authors@Google: Burton Malkiel. Dr Malkiel gives an enthusiastic presentation on investment strategies that is not overly technical and easy to follow. (1:11:45)

 

Authors@Google: Richard Thaler. Dr Thaler gives a presentation on his book, “Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness.”The book focuses on the field of behavioral economics and how individuals can overcome their biases to make better life choices. His presentation is light and easy to follow. (56:57)

 

_____@Google is a video series that highlights presentations given at Google by those not working at Google. This ranges from Chefs@Google, Authors@Google, Candidates@Google, Musicians@Google, Women@Google, etc… Over 1,187 videos have been uploaded covering a wide range of topics, people, and ideas.

 

Fight of the Century: Keynes vs. Hayek, Round Two: This video uses hip-hop music to explore the difference between F. A. Hayek and J. M. Keynes. The video is educational in nature and is ‘clean’ for classroom use.  (10:10)

 

The above videos are generally longer than your average Internet video, but they are still worthwhile to watch. As always, let me know what you think: Zumwalta@missouri.edu. 

 

There is likely no financial tip next week. Have a great Thanksgiving!

 

Andrew Zumwalt, MS

Personal Financial Planning

University of Missouri

Columbia, MO 65211