Chalk Radio Podcast - Thinking Like an Economist with Prof. Jonathan Gruber (S1:E9)

MIT Chalk Radio, Season 1 Instructor: Jonathan Gruber, Sarah Hansen Subscribe here → https://chalk-radio.simplecast.com/ YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP63YwKIMA9K08FFvdeBEl6Lo Professor Jonathan Gruber wants to train students to think like economists. Economics uses elegant mathematical models to explain how people make decisions and allocate their resources—but all too often those models are taught in ways that remain disconnected from students’ own experience. In this episode, Professor Gruber shares his thoughts on bridging that gap in his course 14.01 Introductory Microeconomics. He says he tries to anchor the course with real-world examples; as he explains, “You only really understand something when you go out in the real world and apply it.” And those examples, he says, have to be relatable. So rather than discussing companies none of his students have heard of or commodities nobody cares about, he illustrates fundamental economic concepts with examples like Kim Kardashian’s exercise corset, Uber’s policy of surge pricing, and LeBron James’s decision not to attend college. By engaging students with accessible examples of economic principles in action, Professor Gruber helps them develop economic intuition—a sense of how the mathematical models apply in the real, seemingly chaotic world. If you’ve always thought economics was boring, listen in on this podcast. It may change your mind! Relevant Resources: MIT OpenCourseWare https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm?utm_source=simplecast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_campaign=chalkradio&utm_term=s1e9 The OCW Educator Portal https://ocw.mit.edu/educator/?utm_source=simplecast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_campaign=chalkradio&utm_term=s1e9 Professor Gruber’s Scholar course on OCW https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/economics/14-01sc-principles-of-microeconomics-fall-2011/?utm_source=simplecast&utm_medium=shownotes&utm_campaign=chalkradio&utm_term=s1e9 Professor Gruber’s microeconomics course on EdX https://www.edx.org/course/microeconomics Professor Gruber’s faculty page https://economics.mit.edu/faculty/gruberj Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions https://www.sessions.blue Connect with Us If you have a suggestion for a new episode or have used OCW to change your life or those of others, tell us your story. We’d love to hear from you! On our site https://ocw.mit.edu/about/contactus/ On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MITOCW/ On Twitter https://twitter.com/MITOCW On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mitocw/ Stay Current Subscribe to the free monthly "MIT OpenCourseWare Update" e-newsletter. https://ocw.mit.edu/subscribe/index.htm?utm_source=header License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA More information at https://ocw.mit.edu/terms More courses at https://ocw.mit.edu