Economic Rockstar

By Frank Conway - Economics and Finance Lecturer - interviews Dan Ariely, DeirBusiness Education Investing

Economic Rockstar episodes

December 25, 2014012: Yoram Bauman on Cartoons, Being a Stand-Up Economist & His Passion to Save the Environment
Yoram Bauman is considered the world's first and only stand-up economist and uses cartoons to explain economic concepts and theories. He has a PhD from the University of Washington and a BA in Mathematics from Reed College. Yoram lectured environmental and health economics at both Whitman College and University of Washington and was a visiting research scholar at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. Yoram has swapped the lecture hall for the comedy club and is on a mission to spread joy to the world and to reform economics education. Every year Yoram organizes the Humor Session at the American Economic Association annual meeting.
Yoram is an advocate for carbon pricing and other economic approaches to protecting the environment. Yoram has written extensively on these issues but has also published numerous micro and macro books with comedy and entertainment as its central theme. They include The Cartoon Introduction to Economics, The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change and Stand-Up Economics: The Micro Textbook. Some of these books have been translated into over 10 languages.
In this interview, Yoram mentions and discusses: adverse selection, portfolio selection theory, the invisible hand, environmental economics, environmental taxes, market power, monopoly, corruption, opportunity cost, free market, revenue-neutral carbon taxes, consumption tax, tragedy of the commons, externalities, correlation, hyperinflation, population growth, economic growth, monetary base and rational expectations.

In this interview, Yoram mentions: George Akerlof, James Tobin, Adam Smith, Gregory Mankiw and Paul Krugman.
Find out:
about revenue-neutral carbon taxing
if we should keep economics serious or is there room for comedy?
why it's important to motivate people to open a textbook and how humor and comedy can do this.
how cartoons and humor can bring so much detail and understanding to economic concepts.
where it all began for Yoram when writing a cartoon economics textbook.
about the cartoon books written by Yoram that document the annals of economic theory.
how Yoram humorously depicts why some economists have won the Nobel Prize in Economics in a simplified and memorable manner.
how Adam Smith calls the winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics to interview them. Spooked? Find out how.
how Yoram found his true calling while reading Mankiw's economics textbook.
how Yoram uses cartoons and comedy to teach us economics and to inform us of the need for environmental taxes, something he is passionate about.
and much much more.
You can find more content and all the books and links mentioned on this podcast episode at www.economicrockstar/yorambauman
50 min
December 18, 2014011: Steve Keen on Debunking Economics and the Misinterpretation of Keynes
Steve Keen is Professor of Economics and Head of Department of Economics, History and Politics at Kingston University, London. Steve's interpretative analysis is quite different to the norm. Steve likes to be known socially as an anti-economist and has spent 40 years fighting delusion in economics. That delusion has led us into a crisis and Steve may have finally won his battle... or has he? Steve is the winner of the Revere Award for being the economist who most convincingly warned of the economic crisis and whose work is most likely to prevent another one. He topped the poll beating Roubini, Shiller, Soros, Stiglitz and Krugman.
Economic Themes:
In this interview, Steve mentions and discusses: Keynesian economics, supply, demand and equilibrium,demand curves, Debt/GDP ratio, financial crisis, housing market bubble, IS-LM model,
Economists and Economic Schools:
In this interview, Steve mentions: Frank Stilwell, John Maynard Keynes, Hyman Minsky, John Hicks, Paul Krugman, Paul Samuelson, Marshallian economics (Alfred Marshall), Walrasian Economics (Leon Walrasian)
Find Out:
how Steve saw the 2008 financial crisis coming when he investigated Debt/GDP levels.
Steve's views on current economic teachings in many school, colleges and universities around the world.
what should be done at these colleges and how a pluralist approach to teaching economics is best.
about Steve's thoughts on the treatment of Keynesian economics.
about Steve's involvement in a Marvel-style comic book dedicated to teaching economics.
and much more.
You can find all the links and books mentioned by Steve at http://www.economicrockstar.com/stevekeen
51 min
December 11, 2014010: Douglas Goldstein on How Chess Can Teach Us Lessons on Strategic Financial Planning
Doug Goldstein has over 20 years in the financial planning and services industry, beginning his career on Wall Street in 1992 at Dean Witter. Doug is a Certified Financial Planner, registered Investment Advisor, Trust and Estate Practitioner, and a licensed investment professional. Doug is the founder and director of Profile Investment Services, Ltd and hosts two podcasts on iTunes called Goldstein on Gelt and Rich As A King. Doug has authored numerous books on financial planning and building wealth and is co-author of Rich As A King: How the Wisdom of Chess Can Make You The Grandmaster of Investing. Doug is quoted in many publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Forbes, as well as guest lecturing on investment in colleges.
Economic Themes:
In this interview, Doug mentions and discusses: investment planning, stock markets, over-confidence, behavioral finance, loss aversion, prospect theory, personal finance, strategic finance, interest rates, bonds, risk, liquidity risk, hedge funds,
Economists and Economic Schools:
In this interview, Doug mentions: Terence Odean, Daniel Kahneman and Kenneth Rogoff.
Find Out:
about two women in Doug's life who smashed the glass ceiling in their respective careers.
about the financial planning lessons Doug learned from his mother and grandmother.
if women make better financial planners or investors than men.
if trading markets more frequently leads to better returns.
how the patience of chess playing is similar to the patience needed when planning your stock market trades.
why the fear of losing results in investors making bad decisions.
what you should do if you have a question about your business.
how the concepts of improving your game in chess is the same as that of investment and financial planning.
about the difference between short-term and long-term financial planning.
how a game of chess is bounded unlike the uncertainties of a stock market and what you can do to manage these uncertainties.
'how the News causes you to Lose'.
how goal-setting can get you out of the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.
who Doug would be if he was a chess piece.
and much much more.
Visit www.economicrockstar.com to get access to the show notes and all the links referred to by Doug in this episode.
48 min
December 04, 2014009: Naomi Brockwell (Bitcoin Girl) on Bitcoins, Liberty, Government and Fiat Currency
Naomi Brockwell is an opera singer, film-maker and actress, and studied commerce at the University of Western Australia. Currently residing in New York, Naomi also runs her own company Rainsworth Productions and is a fellow at The Moving Picture Institute. Naomi speaks five languages, plays six musical instruments and, of course, is a gold medal-winning Irish dancer. Naomi is on the Advisory Council of the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation and is the always effervescent face of Bitcoin Girl.
Economic Themes:
In this interview, Naomi mentions and discusses: bitcoins, crypto-currencies, monetary policy, inflation, fiat currency, fractional reserve banking, central banks, living standards, international trade, negative externalities, unintended consequences,equilibrium, supply and demand.
Economists and Economic Schools:
In this interview, Naomi mentions: Victor Niederhoffer, Gene Epstein, Murray Rothbard, Jean-Baptiste Say, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Carl Menger, Erik Voorheese, Paul Krugman, Austrian economics, Libertarianism, Keynesian economics and Hunter Lewis.
Find Out:
what Naomi's two favorite drinks are - they're Irish by the way!
and watch Naomi's video 'Bitcoin Girl' (see below), made with The Moving Picture Institute, in which she is featured.
what began Naomi's passion for economics after staying in New York City to study and train with other great opera singers.
how a discussion on the housing crisis and the housing bubble at Junto in New York City inspired Naomi to read economics.
how a chance email to Gene Epstein of Barron's developed a passion for Austrian and Libertarian economics.
Naomi's shared views with Gene on educating people in economics even if they disagree on some of the thinking.
why Naomi questions the foundation of fiat money after reading Rothbard.
why Naomi believes that the private sector can manage money better than the government.
why bitcoin is used voluntarily with no coercion.
what is a virtual or crypto-currency and how does it work when there is no physical coin to use.
what excites Naomi about Bitcoin and why, as Bitcoin Girl, she is becoming synonymous with Bitcoin.
what cryptography is and what it has to do with Bitcoin.
the difference between fractional reserve banking and how bitcoin operates.
what scares Naomi when she requested her Australian bank to transfer her own money into a Bitstamp account.
and much, much more.
You cna find all the links mentioned in this episode on the shownoates page at Economic Rockstar
49 min
November 26, 2014008: Robbie Butler on Using Sports to Teach Entry-Level Economics
Robbie Butler is a lecturer of economics at University College Cork in Ireland, where he lectures on a multitude of modules, such as Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Growth Economics and Corporate Strategy. Robbie received his PhD from University of Hertfordshire in England, is published in a number of internationally renowned academic journals and is a regular economics contributor on media. Robbie's primary passion is in sports, namely football (soccer) and he has a Junior International cap for Ireland. Robbie managed to bridge his passion for sports with his career in economics and, along with his brother David and other colleagues, created and runs the popular website www.sportseconomics.org.
Find Out:
who lectured Robbie as an undergrad. Hint: He's the host of this show!
how Robbie's use of sports in explaining economics grew from fun and a personal interest into something that has grown and evolved into something quite serious.
how playing football at a highly competitive level has allowed Robbie view economics in quite a unique way.
how this unique view has given Robbie an ability to delve into economics with many sports analogies and examples in which students can relate.
how having played sports competitively has given Robbie a level of respect and credibility when using sports-related themes in economics.
the importance of working with like-minded people and how it makes life so much easier.
why a coffee break with colleagues can have the most intellectually-stimulating conversations bursting with ideas.
a great tip before publishing a blog post when working with others who share the same website - it cuts out the use of Google Docs, Dropbox, etc.
how working with a sibling makes the feedback on your work more critical and raw - something that could help with perfecting the right article.
about the Theory of Multiple Intelligence by Harvard educationalist Howard Gardner - we have 8 ways of learning.
how sports can be used as "a lens to the economic world" that empowers the student when learning and understanding economic theory.
how a change to the rules of a football/soccer game in the Caribbean between Barbados and Granada created incentives that reflects the behaviour of rational economic agent.
how a penalty shoot-out between Manchester United and Chelsea in the Champions League Final showcases the Volunteers Dilemma in economic game theory (Chelsea are instructed to take all penalties to Manchester United keeper's left but he finds out Chelsea's strategy when faced with the last penalty-taker by pointing to his own left - game theory demonstrated in football).
how watching the Simpsons can expose us to economic theory with its many parodies.
why Robbie believes that the English Premier League is in trouble and has all the hallmarks of a bubble.
how the different economic structures of the US (free market) and Europe (socialist) are reversed when it comes to the economic model of sports.
how the debt/GDP ratio imposed on EU countries is similar to the debt/income rules imposed on football clubs.
why big clubs may be willing to break the spending rules of the game despite the imposition of monetary fines.
about the use of metrics by Billy Bean's Oakland A's and how a 'mediocre' team could beat the cash-rich New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
Get the shownotes to this episode and all the links mentioned at www.economicrockstar.com/robbiebutler
39 min
November 21, 2014007: Ryan Blair- Gangster turned Millionaire on Decision-Making, Game Theory and Incentives
Ryan Blair is a serial entrepreneur but his path to becoming a millionaire is both unique and fascinating. From a middle-class family who lost it all, Ryan became a gang member and, at times, carried an AK-47. life changed for Ryan due to a strong work ethic and a will to succeed. He overcame great obstacles to achieve extraordinary success. With six multi-million dollar companies by age 30, Ryan vowed to make his current company, ViSalus Sciences, be the first billion dollar company to come out of the Great Recession and to help many people along the way. He is a philanthropist and New York Times best selling author.

In this interview, Ryan mentions and discusses: decision-making, incentives, rewards, compensation, leveraging, poverty, entrepreneurialism, economic systems, philanthropy, venture capitalists, investors, Game Theory, complementary goods and capital markets.

How being a gang member is similar to being a business person:
"A gang is an economic system. Similarities exist between being an entrepreneur and a legitimate businessman and doing business as a gang member on the street".
"A gang is simply illegal entrepreneurship. It has a management hierarchy. Generally a gang will have various revenue streams. It has a compensation system. There are incentives and rewards as a recruiting system to recruit new members. There's replication that occurs as a business model. The gang will have different hubs and different cities and countries it operates in. There are so many similarities".
"Game theory is simply the idea of a game of chicken. Sometimes you have to be willing to risk it all and a lot of the time you have to be willing to walk away from a deal".
Find out:
what life was like for Ryan growing up with a violent, drug-addicted father and how his family lost everything.
how Ryan overcame this to teach people how to overcome their poor decisions or the decisions of their family or the environment they were born into.
what skeletons Ryan takes out of the closet (revealed in his book) giving us some insight in this podcast.
why people are shocked that he was in a gang but how people that he knew in the past are even more shocked by his appearance, level of education and his ability to articulate on subjects that he is passionate about.
how over-leveraging and keeping-up with the Jones' fuelled by credit in the economic 'good times' can be destructive for some families.
how Ryan went from middle-class to poverty to multi-millionaire.
how Ryan went from earning minimum wage at 18 to earning 6 figures within 2 years.
how staring at a 60-year old prisoner became the defining moment that changed Ryan's life-path.
how Ryan overcame dyslexia and ADD to create his own auditory learning system, something which the current educational system failed to do.
why Ryan believes that 'vision' is so important in your life.
how Ryan helps people facing life in adversity: Clue? - The creation of foundations and philanthropic work.
about Ryan's work with autism.
about the importance of having mentors and having a life purpose.
and much, much more.
You can find the shownotes to this episode'along with all the links mentioned, at www.economicrockstar.com/ryanblair
46 min
November 20, 2014006: Andrew Heaton on Using Comedy to Explain Economic Concepts
Andrew Heaton is a comedian, writer and political satirist. He is the presenter of the witty and entertaining economics podcast, EconPop and has a Masters degree in International Politics. Andrew has been featured in a Bollywood movie, plays a lead role in the sitcom Cap South and has been voted best new comedian of 2013 in New York. Andrew hails from Oklahoma, is an Officer to a Prince and plays the Ukelele to enhance the mood of his friends’ amorous endeavors.

In this interview, Andrew mentions and discusses: wheat quotas, comparative advantage, protectionism, relative and actual growth, free markets and limited government, Austrian Theory of Monetary Creation, supply and demand, signalling, subjective value, negative externalities, tariffs and import duty, protectionism, corporation tax, scarce resources, population, abundance of resources, the Great Depression, US deficit, unintended consequences, behavioral economics and risk aversion.

Find Out:
how Andrew became interested in economics while studying abroad in Scotland.
what parallels Andrew draws between politics, economics and comedy.
what economists and school of thought Andrew draws inspiration from to carve out his own views.
where and from whom Andrew gets his inspiration for his anecdotal writings on economics concepts.
how economic concepts is in abundance in life and can be found in the many movies we may have watched.
what qualities Andrew believes makes a successful person.
about Andrew being an Officer to Prince Leonard of Hutt River.
what comparative advantage is and how Andrew explains it in an unusual but light-hearted way.
why Andrew believes we will never run out of resources and why we should not worry about scarcity.
For more information on this podcast episode and others, please visit www.economicrockstar.com
1 hr 6 min
November 19, 2014005: Hector Avellaneda on Buying Gold to Protect Your Wealth from a Dollar Crisis
Hector Avellaneda is from Houston, Texas and has a passion for entrepreneurship, economics, finance and gold. This, however, only materialized after Hector came face to face with a untold truth and one of the harshest lessons that only a life experience can teach you, as long as you are willing to dig deep in search for answers. Hector, the son of Mexican immigrants to the US, grew up in poverty and was statistically destined to a life of poverty in adulthood. However, Hector wanted to defy this probability and worked extremely hard in school. In typical fashion, Hector accumulated college debt and was ironically facing a poorer life than his own parents despite a larger mean income. Hector questioned the college debt system and deeply explored how US citizens have grown accustomed to taking on such debt. Further research led him to realise that middle-class America could see their wealth wiped out due to an impending dollar crisis. Subsequently, Hector wrote an economics and finance-related book to share his findings and to suggest what you can do to protect your wealth.
Find out:
how Hector had all the hallmarks of continuing to live a life of poverty in America.
about Hector being bullied in school because of the charitable clothes he wore .
how Hectors' father and mother's sense of hard-work and money management became naturally ingrained in him.
how Hector defied and beat the statistical odds of remaining poor for life due to a strong work ethic and a desire to succeed.
how hard work in school can open up many opportunities in life including an internship with NASA.
the importance of being mentored.
how easy credit for college education made Hector 's financial position worse off than his parents.
what triggered Hector into discovering the truth about the American economy and the college debt system.
the risks in the US economy.
why the US could be faced with a massive default on student loans and what is triggering this today.
how it became acceptable to borrow to pay for college.
why Hector's $50,000 student debt became a blessing in disguise.
and much more.
Check out the show notes page to this eye-popping episode on www.economicrockstar.com/hectoravellaneda
48 min
November 18, 2014004: Jadrian Wooten on Using Sports to Carve Out a Career in Economics - Sports Economics
Jadrian Wooten is an Economics lecturer at Pennsylvania State University. Jadrian’s research focuses primarily on sports economics. He has a PhD from Washington State University and an MBA from Sam Houston State University. He analyses various economic concepts that otherwise would not be evident by a typical sports fan or analyst. Jadrian shares his passion for teaching economics and believes that an interactive classroom is the best learning environment.

In this interview, Jadrian mentions and discusses: economics in sports, price discrimination, market structures, decision-making, some of his academic papers, over-confidence, Billy Bean, John Nash, Jim Cramer, stock markets, behavioral psychology, herding, contrarian investors, unemployment, labor economics and loss-aversion.

Find Out:
how Jadrian found a love for economics and the moment he wanted to teach it.
which academic paper made Jadrian realise that you can combine sports with economics and have the 'dream job'.
about Jadrian's unique teaching style and how it culminated from the collective influences of past professors.
how Jadrian used billions of tweets on Twitter to identify over-confidence in a sport pundits' predictions of outcomes in games.
and much more.

You can find the show notes to this interview at

http://www.economicrockstar.com/jadrianwooten
47 min
November 13, 2014003: Erin Lowry on Millennials, College Debt and Asking for the Order
Erin Lowry is a double major in journalism and theatre and writes on finance and money related matters for the millennial generation. She lives in New York and is founder of brokemillennial.com where she is on a mission to explain financial concepts and money saving tips to her fellow Millennials using a little humor along the way. Erin is also a freelance writer for both Daily Finance and US News and World Report. Erin has deservedly been recognized for her astounding contribution to the finance and money industry, being voted ‘Top Finance Blog’ and winner of the ‘Best Personal Finance Blog for Young Adults’. Erin has also been featured on Forbes and Reuters, as well making appearances on TV, radio and other podcasts for her advice.
In this interview, Erin mentions and discusses: millennials, Generation Y, student loan debt, credit card debt, savings, habits, business startups, money, returns, net profit, incentives and perfect competition.
Find out:
how a Krispee Kreme gave Erin her biggest lesson in understanding finance, money and net profit at the tender age of seven.
how living in Japan and China during her childhood developed a different money mindset to her fellow consumer-led American peers.
how Erin left college debt-free.
who are millennials, if you are one and, if so, are you narcissistic and lazy?
about the massive student loan and credit card debt taken on by this generation and what you can do about it.
the money-saving tips that you can use in college or at work.
how saving a little, even $2, from a paycheck now will develop into a powerful life habit.
and much more.
You can find the show notes to this interview at
http://www.economicrockstar.com/erinlowry
43 min

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Economic Rockstar is created for you, the economist, financial analyst, teacher or student. If you are looking to expand your knowledge or awareness, Frank Conway delivers the information you just…

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Economic Rockstar

Economic Rockstar episodes

About Economic Rockstar