Rational – A Play About Economics podcast

This is from Economics in Ten podcast, a special episode. This is a fun one: Pete and Gav wrote and performed an actual play exploring what the world would look like if rational economic man (Homo Economicus) really existed. The central conflict is between Dr Becker, the creator of this perfectly rational being, and Adam the Clone, whose attempts to apply pure economic logic to the real world produce increasingly absurd results. It’s a creative and, if slightly unhinged, entertaining way to interrogate the assumptions that underpin standard economic theory, and would work well as a discussion-starter on the difference between models and reality, or on the behavioural economics critique of rational choice. Accessible and fun: the dramatic format makes it a different kind of listen, and students tend to enjoy it.  Listen here