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