author : Timothy (2) Taylor

This is the course guidebook that accompanies the 36 lecture “Great Course” of the same name. It is essentially an abbreviated transcript of each lecture, a few pictures, and some related reading. (I watched the lectures, which is what I am reviewing here, and am using the book simply as an aide-memoire.)

Taylor gives an overview of the topic of Economics, covering microeconomics (the results of the choices and behaviours of many individuals) and macroeconomics (large scale aggregate policies). So we get supply and demand, labour and wages, saving and spending, and regulations. We also get fiscal and monetary policy, balance of trade, unemployment and inflation. All this is explained through a pure economic lens, with demonstrations of how various goals can suggest incompatible policies. He also discusses topics such as poverty and pollution, how typical attempt to solve the problems don’t make sense economically, and how different approaches might fare better.

This provides a good overview of the concepts and terminology. I’m sure if the world was populated purely by economists like Taylor, with no short-term desires from politicians and share holders, no greed from manufacturers and financiers, and no criminals circumventing regulations, then pure market forces might make for a better world. But, particularly in the light of the subsequent to this publication financial crisis of 2008, and some current interesting applications of trade policies, I remain to be convinced it is as easy as Taylor makes it appear.

This is the course guidebook that accompanies the 24 lecture “Great Course” of the same name. It is essentially an abbreviated transcript of each lecture, a few pictures, and some related reading. (I watched the lectures, which is what I am reviewing here, and am using the book simply as an aide-memoire.)

Taylor explains that Economics is not just about money, it is about making choices in a world of scarcity, about how you decide to allocate your resources of time, money, and effort. And these choices cover the ‘unexpected’ cases of the course title: surrogate pregnancy, selling organs, traffic pricing, crime, marriage, having children, gift giving, obesity, preparing for disasters, sport, and more.

Many of the topics are indeed unexpected, for example, some economists focus on sport, despite its trivial overall economic value, because data is readily available, and some of the pressures and choices apply to other areas, such as CEO pay. The lecture on obesity is interesting too: the majority of the costs here are actually borne by the obese person, not the state.

Although there is a lot of interest here, I don’t think Taylor applies his arguments to all aspects of choice and worth. For example, in talking about blood donation, he mentions that donors can feel a warm glow, but he doesn’t seem to factor in any value of that glow when discussing whether donors should be paid. There are other cases, like discussing that children used to be resources for “household production” but seems to have moved more to being a “luxury good”, when he similarly doesn’t factor in that people might actually like having children for their own sake (hard as that might be to believe, I know).

So, many interesting ideas, but I remain to be convinced it is all just economics.