The science of economics can be an intimidating topic to understand, but it can be broken down into basic motivations and forces that are understandable to anyone. Supply, demand, and trade-offs are a part of everyone’s daily life and should be identifiable in any industry or market. 

Matthew Hennessey is a journalist who is the Deputy Op-Ed Editor for the Wall Street Journal. He is also an author, and his latest book is titled Visible Hand: A Wealth of Notions on the Miracle of the Market, which is an accessible primer on economics for newcomers of all ages and explains the concepts of the market in plain and understandable terms.

Matthew and Greg discuss how Matthew’s book works to support and inform all ages of readers. Matthew recounts a motto from a high school teacher that on a wall stuck with him and changed his life. They talk about the differences in the ways different generations act with respect to the market, and they discuss how a newsroom goes about keeping the news and opinion departments separate. 

*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

Bad ideas never really die

20:54: Bad ideas never really die. They go to sleep for a while, and then they come, wake up, and come back to life to haunt us all. And people our age are living through something that we never thought could happen, which is a revival of a bunch of really bad ideas that everyone thought had been laid to rest long ago.

14:29: The world is more filled with mystery than any one person can ever understand, and there's no reason why markets should be any different.

The market is like gravity

16:58: The market is like that. It's like gravity. You can't see it, but you know what it does, and don't mess with it. I don't mean that as a threat. Like, don't mess with the market. You can't take the screws out of the tires and expect it to do what it's meant to do. 

Show Links:Recommended Resources:

• Generations and years of them
• Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics
• Requiem for the Newsroom by Maureen Dowd 
• James Taranto

Guest Profile:

• Professional Profile on Much Rack
• Professional Profile on Manhattan Institute
• Matthew Hennessey on LinkedIn
• Matthew Hennessey on Twitter
• Matthew Hennessey on Instagram

His Work:

• Articles at New York Post
• Visible Hand: A Wealth of Notions on the Miracle of the Market
• Zero Hour for Gen X: How the Last Adult Generation Can Save America from Millennials

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