Economics Explained

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/ee. Terms and conditions apply.

Unfortunately for theoretical economists, we are not allowed to run economics experiments on the whole of society to see definitively whether or not certain economic policies or systems work in practice. Millions of lives hang in the balance, so this is an ethical non-starter. But we can study countries that have experimented with socialism, communism, and laissez faire capitalism to see what the outcomes are. And the experiments have been done.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

California, the US's third largest state, ranks as the world's 4th or 5th economy all by itself. With an output over $3.5 trillion, Californians are among the globe's top producers. But despite its growth, the state faces challenges: global pressures, population decline, and social problems.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unfortunately for theoretical economists, we are not allowed to run economics experiments on the whole of society to see definitively whether or not certain economic policies or systems work in practice. Millions of lives hang in the balance, so this is an ethical non-starter. But we can study countries that have experimented with socialism, communism, and laissez faire capitalism to see what the outcomes are. And the experiments have been done.

Indonesia's economy has been growing rapidly, and thanks to a younger population it could be on track to become one of the biggest economies in the world. There are a few things holding Indonesia back, such as Jakarta sinking into the ocean, but with their natural resource wealth and access to the world's oceans, it could become a huge player in making the goods we all use every day.

Global inequality is one of the biggest economic issues facing the world today. Global wealth is now thousands of times what it has been for the vast majority of human history, and yet a lot of that wealth is being hoarded by a smaller and smaller group of people. We were lucky enough to speak to Francisco Ferreira from the London School of Economics, an expert on global inequality and its impacts on developing countries, which have the potential to be the economic powerhouses of the future.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Indonesia's economy has been growing rapidly, and thanks to a younger population it could be on track to become one of the biggest economies in the world. There are a few things holding Indonesia back, such as Jakarta sinking into the ocean, but with their natural resource wealth and access to the world's oceans, it could become a huge player in making the goods we all use every day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite Mexico's strategic advantages and booming manufacturing sector due to global trade shifts, they haven't taken opportunities to replace China as a major manufacturer for the US. What factors stifle Mexico's growth and are there drawbacks to its proximity to the US?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When people think of Taiwan, they mostly think of tensions with China and the fact that Taiwan is a major manufacturing centre for the world's semiconductors. But Taiwan's leaders actually made some big bets decades ago that are paying off now, with a GDP per capita roughly 3 times that of mainland China.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The global wealth disparity has been greatly exacerbated by the pandemic, and there is a concentration of wealth among the top 1.2% of people. We explore factors causing inequality, the role of debt, and finding an optimal level of inequality (because you do need some).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Global debt has now topped $300 trillion USD, or three times total global economic output.

This is a number that is going to have very real consequences for billions of people around the world, but as scary as the number sounds there is still reason to be optimistic and there are still reasons why most economists handling this issue are not too worried just yet.

To help us understand this issue in the course of our research we were lucky enough to speak to Dr. Jason Furman an economics professor at Harvard University and a former economic policy director for the Obama Administration.

His understanding of an issue as large as global debt is truly valuable not only because of his impressive academic background but also because he is one of only a handful of people in the world that has ever had their hands on the proverbial controls of economic policy at this scale. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices