My son is an economist
But is he a good one?
This week my 8 year-old son got to be a guest economist on my video. He loves Pokemon cards, and I realized they were a good way to introduce him to economics. I had him predict some factors that affect prices and then collected data to test his predictions.
This is another example of how you can stand out as an economics student. We created hypotheses, gathered data, and tested them. If you get in the habit of doing informal research like this, you’ll develop your economics skills. Furthermore, when you’re searching for jobs, you’ll have concrete stories to tell in job interviews.
The Social Dilemma
Speaking of research, a lot of people are talking about Netflix’s The Social Dilemma. I don’t have Netflix, so I have not seen it yet, but I understand the premise is the damaging effects of social media. Well, it so happens I have done research on this topic! About a year ago I made a video about my work on how sthe iPhone 3G distracted parents and sent about 200,000 kids to the hospital. The research changed my life and how I use my devices, and I hope it will improve yours. Also, one of my first videos was explaining some of the economic benefits of digital minimalism.
Creator Economics Podcast
Two of the biggest names in the creator space have started an economics podcast. Blake Robbins is a venture capitalist who helped start NadeShot’s 100 Thieves esports organization, and Reed Duschscher manages some of YouTube’s biggest names, including MrBeast. I enjoyed their discussion last week about the trade-off between revenue and reach.
COVID Externalities
Iceland was one of the early success stories for containing coronavirus. Well this past week it experienced a huge spike in cases—one of the biggest they’ve had yet. It turns out that half of the spike can be traced back to a tourist couple that tested positive and was ordered to quarantine, but violated that quarantine.
If there is one economics lesson from 2020 I hope we all learn, it’s the power of externalities.