Reframing the Economic Mindset

[Music]

when i was a professor of economics

i would start the semester with the

question what do you think of when you

hear the word

economy almost every single one of my

students would respond with one of two

answers

stock market unemployment every once in

a while i’d have a student throw gdp in

there and that student

instantly became a class resource for

homework help

my philosophy of teaching or the skill

rather i tried to ingrain in my students

was to question everything ask

why ask how and if something doesn’t

make sense

speak up and say something just because

something’s written in a textbook

doesn’t mean it’s written in stone

lately it feels like nothing about the

economy makes sense

only now are we beginning to question

how well the economy is working because

quite frankly it’s no longer working and

unfortunately reactivity is

always more costly than pro-activity and

only now are we beginning to recognize

that

economics has become prey to reactivity

instead of pro-activity the copen 19

pandemic taught us a lot of costly

truths about our economy

for example the internet is priced like

a luxury

but the internet is a utility the right

to health care is just that

it’s a right not a privilege

mental health care needs to be more

accessible

cheaper and normalized

but we have been painting over these

cracks

in our economic foundations while

convincing ourselves that yeah

yeah our home is totally sound and

strong

how sound and strong can an economy be

if yeah the unemployment rate is low

but people are working two to three jobs

to make ends meet

how sound and strong can an economy be

if our youth

the most educated generation in history

can’t afford houses and has to take any

job they can get

not a job that’s well suited for their

specialized skill set

how did the stock market see all-time

highs

during a pandemic when thousands of

unemployment claims were filed

these are systemic problems that have

resulted from ideologies that

aren’t relevant anymore ideologies such

as

picking yourself up by your bootstraps

or profits first

or maintaining individualism at the

painfully large cost to the collective

well-being

these are bugs in our system that we can

no longer avoid fixing

and these problems don’t go away just

because the dow

is up or inflation is low or

unemployment is

this is why the way we currently teach

present and understand economics

is inherently a pressing economic

issue because if 2020 has taught us

anything it’s that the paint we’re using

to cover these cracks

it’s chipping we’ve neglected measuring

the well-being of our society

we’ve neglected measuring our happiness

our safety

is our society happy with the way our

time is being spent

is our time being efficiently spent we

have ignored

implicit costs that are plaguing this

country

such as isolation burnout exhaustion

depression financial worry and anxiety

among the lower and middle class

and these costs are in the truest forms

economic issues now by no means am i

saying

oh let’s get rid of gdp gnp or cpi ppi

i’m not saying that at all but numbers

do not define the economy

numbers are supposed to guide the

economy

so i’m suggesting we add some new tools

tools that can measure the intangibles

like happiness

and satisfaction just because it’s hard

to value these intangibles that don’t

always bring us money

doesn’t mean the intangibles are

valueless

because the economy’s purpose is to

serve the well-being of society and

well-being

includes feeling financially emotionally

physically spiritually

and mentally secure societal well-being

should be the ultimate economic goal

and economics aims to achieve this

school by studying the way people spend

money and make decisions

economics studies how wealth can be

distributed

to help our more vulnerable members of

society

economics analyzes a country’s

productivity

in order to balance sustainability and

consumption

economics is not the study of money

it’s not the study of gdp it’s not the

study of assets

economics is a social science that uses

data numbers and science

to observe how the social nature of

humans

affects our ability to meet our basic

needs

our health needs our emotional needs our

spiritual

needs and these needs become more

fulfilled when we have

more time to dedicate to them i would

always tell my students

don’t ask me how long should i study for

this class to get my a

you should be asking how can i study

better so that i can earn my a without

spending

countless of hours going over the

material

to work like that is not lazy like so

many of us believe to work like that is

efficient

to work like that is smart and how many

times have we been told

work smart not hard

when we work smart and efficiently we

can build a

wealthy economy now i want to clarify

that

a large economy is not the same thing as

a

wealthy economy a large economy has a

lot of monetary inflow

but i like many other economists

hypothesize

that a wealthy economy has more to do

about

meeting human needs than it does with

earning a lot of money

because there’s a science behind the

idea that

well-being is correlated with increased

productivity

increased profits and less civil unrest

so this begs the question

what good is our large economy if the

well-being of society

is cast aside in order to churn this

large economy

after all how successful can an economy

be if the main form of health care is a

gofundme

how progressive can an economy be if

having a woman

in a position of leadership is still

controversial

how sustainable can a society be

if young adults are prolonging major

life decisions like

having children or getting married

because they are burdened by so much

debt they feel it’s fiscally responsible

to avoid or delay these major life

decisions

and these critiques of how we measure

our economy aren’t new

but executing economic plans that we

know

could make life more prosperous will

require addressing

various problems on various layers

and these layers range from science

education to policy they go as deep

from the government to the business to

the individual level

the economy is like an onion and a shrek

famously said

onions have layers well guess what the

economy

has layers and solving the problems that

hinder our

potential for economic growth requires

all of these layers to work together we

can use

history and sociology to debunk economic

myths

for example the american dream

it’s time to accept that the american

dream is not what it was 60 years ago

what was feasible even 20 years ago is

not what’s feasible today

we can use biology and psychology

to retrain our minds to understand that

receiving

a burnt out badge of honor really isn’t

that big of an honor

but the most important thing that must

happen before we begin to peel any layer

is educating ourselves

because when we don’t educate ourselves

through reliable

and expert sources we are at the mercy

of the perceptions

wishes and motivations

of others and if we want better leaders

who are going to make better decisions

for us we need to know exactly what

we’re fighting for

and how we’re going to get it we need to

know what

actually entails a better economy with

more jobs

is there a plan to have the government

training programs or

bringing in subsidies to help laborers

and dying industries develop their

skills for new ones

will there be investments in new and

upcoming fields that will open more jobs

what exactly is the plan to bring

entry-level jobs in an era where

technology

can often do entry-level work if we

don’t

ask these questions who’s going to find

a solution

and if we don’t start finding some

solutions how can we expect our economy

to survive

it will take all of us to dismantle

systems

that nurture unchecked breed

unchecked resource use and over

consumption

and it will take all of us to start

building systems that nourish life

liberty and the pursuit of happiness

in order to build these systems we’re

going to need analysis

and discussion by a variety of experts

from

public policy to government to education

to finance political science to biology

to art

we’re going to need a willingness to

listen but not to defend

to understand we need to find a balance

between

individualism and collectivism

we got to start looking at our

similarities instead of focusing

on our differences and most

importantly we’re gonna need every

member of society to do their part

this may sound like a tall order for an

economic revolution that we’ve needed

since

the late 20th century but our revolution

doesn’t have to be this super big

grand event we can start small

it starts with individuals taking their

pto or sick weave

or developing a skill that has zero

relevance to the job they currently have

it starts with you

making time for a hobby with the same

discipline you have

to showing up to work companies can

start including mental health days as

part of sick leave

and companies can make a powerful change

by making sure that for the most part

eight to fives

stay eight to fives and not eight to

infinity

trade jobs becoming socially acceptable

as

viable careers would be wonderfully

revolutionary and a society

that uses the power of the people to

challenge the mentality of sink or swim

can also be the architects

of a new economic foundation prosperity

vitality and safety are not republican

or democrat

issues these are the wishes of every

person on this planet

and the government has a responsibility

to make these wishes a reality

princess fukayama wrote the desire for

economic prosperity itself is not

culturally determined

but almost universally shared

we are complex creatures of psychology

emotion morals beliefs values ethics

and yet in our complexity lies

so much simplicity our needs and desires

really aren’t that different from person

to person

we want to be safe we want to be healthy

we want to be loved

and we want what’s best for our families

these fundamental human needs remind us

that we live

in a society not an economy

so when we’re aiming for a prosperous

economy we’re really aiming for a

prosperous society

but neither can happen without bringing

back humanity

into the economy changing the way we

think about economics will not happen

overnight

it will require unlearning and

relearning

it will require being uncomfortable

it will require hearing perspectives

that you may not understand or identify

with

it will require individually

reevaluating how you choose to determine

your value

and your worth and just like i told my

students to question everything

we must consistently question our public

service leaders in order to make sure

that

our concerns are addressed and

represented

and for the record a prosperous economy

does not mean

everyone wins but the goal of a

prosperous economy

is to make sure that we progress as much

as we can

while minimizing the number of people

left behind

and a prosperous society helps those who

do get left behind

a prosperous economy could include wages

that can keep up with the cost of living

so it’s not expensive to be poor because

people have enough funds to invest in

quality of life where it

matters a prosperous economy could

enable a higher standard of living

because

people aren’t burdened by debt for the

basics of life for

you know health care and education

and this idea of change might

feel idealistic but why

should it why should wanting a better

life

feel idealistic why should it feel like

it’s out of reach

because oh things will never change

we dream of flying without even trying

to take our first steps

things can change things should

change and change

will come whether you’re prepared or not

sometimes stating the obvious flaws that

need to be corrected

is the best place to start now is the

time for us to take our first steps

so that one day we will

soar thank you