A New Precedent: Economic Research Repackaged as a Documentary
In this morning's print edition of the New York Times Arts Section (don't ask why I read it), I stumbled upon a brief mention that Freakonomics will be turned into a documentary and this Dubner blog entry fleshes this out.
Now that the door is ajar, what other economics research will squeeze through? General equilibrium would be a hard sell.
1. I could imagine that a good documentary could be made about Andrew Lo's or Ariely's work showing "behavioral man" getting worked up and making "un-Spock" like decisions at the peak of some emotional high.
2. I could imagine an insider documentary showing a typical day at a University of Chicago Seminar where the speaker quickly realizes that he doesn't have property rights at his own seminar. The audience would have to decide whether they root for David or Goliath.
3. I could imagine Bill Easterly touring one of the Millenium Villages and walking with Jeff Sachs as they debate what are the true keys to economic development in front of the cameras.
4. I could imagine a new round of "Simon vs. Ehrlich" as the NBER's Energy and Environmental Economics group debates some Peak Oil folks. I would invite Stephen Holland to play a key role here.
5. Like the Odd Couple, we could pair unlikely buddies such as Eugene Fama and Paul Krugman and watch them drive across country together. On the way, they would discuss each other's work and ask tough questions.
I'm trying to think about which of my papers and books would make a good documentary. The answer is "Climatopolis" but we must wait until the September publication for me to convince you of this.
Now that the door is ajar, what other economics research will squeeze through? General equilibrium would be a hard sell.
1. I could imagine that a good documentary could be made about Andrew Lo's or Ariely's work showing "behavioral man" getting worked up and making "un-Spock" like decisions at the peak of some emotional high.
2. I could imagine an insider documentary showing a typical day at a University of Chicago Seminar where the speaker quickly realizes that he doesn't have property rights at his own seminar. The audience would have to decide whether they root for David or Goliath.
3. I could imagine Bill Easterly touring one of the Millenium Villages and walking with Jeff Sachs as they debate what are the true keys to economic development in front of the cameras.
4. I could imagine a new round of "Simon vs. Ehrlich" as the NBER's Energy and Environmental Economics group debates some Peak Oil folks. I would invite Stephen Holland to play a key role here.
5. Like the Odd Couple, we could pair unlikely buddies such as Eugene Fama and Paul Krugman and watch them drive across country together. On the way, they would discuss each other's work and ask tough questions.
I'm trying to think about which of my papers and books would make a good documentary. The answer is "Climatopolis" but we must wait until the September publication for me to convince you of this.
posted by Matthew E. Kahn at 9:19 AM
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