Economics in Ten – Season 7, Episode 4: Gary Becker

Gary Becker took economic tools including cost-benefit analysis, incentives and rational choice, and applied them to areas most economists had never ventured: discrimination in the workplace, the economics of the family, and even the decision to commit a crime. His work was controversial but hugely influential, and it’s largely thanks to Becker that economists now feel licensed to wander into sociology, criminology and political science. The discrimination and labour market content is directly relevant to the spec, and the episode raises interesting normative questions about whether everything ‘should’ be modelled this way. The discrimination and labour market material is squarely on spec, with the rest serving as excellent enrichment and a good springboard for discussion about the scope and limits of economic thinking.  Listen here