What you'll learn:
- A sense of pride that merely by enrolling they have helped dogs
- A greater understanding of Economics (as taught by dogs)
- Be aware of surprising parallels between 'Trumponomics' and 'Dogonomics'
- If you own a dog you will now look at your 'friend' in a whole new light!
- Economics and decluttering
- Consumerism v minimalism
- Is minimalism bad for the economy?
- Buddhist economics
New topics introduced in 2026:
Trade balance (goods vs services)
Current account vs bilateral deficit narratives
Gains from trade and interdependence
Tariffs: incidence, pass-through, deadweight loss
Retaliation and trade war dynamics
Elasticity of demand/supply; substitution effects
Trade diversion and third-country substitution
Exchange rates and competitiveness
Inflation transmission from trade policy
Policy uncertainty and investment effects
Climate externalities and market failure
Physical climate risk vs transition risk
Climate risk pricing and risk premia
Cost of capital and sovereign borrowing spreads
Insurance market withdrawal / uninsurability
Risk pooling limits and correlated shocks
Regulation/standards as risk reduction
Adaptation investment and resilience finance
Energy market design (energy-only vs capacity)
Reliability as a system constraint
Capacity adequacy and reserve margins
Dispatchable generation and flexibility
Grid transmission/distribution bottlenecks
Storage economics and demand response
Peak demand, load growth, load duration curves
Option value of reliability resources
AI/data-centre electricity demand as a driver
General-purpose technologies (GPTs) and diffusion
Complementary investments (skills, data, processes)
Adoption S-curves and productivity lags
Measurement/realization of productivity gains
Capital deepening vs TFP growth
Automation vs augmentation (substitutes vs complements)
Skill-biased technological change
Job polarization and entry-level displacement
Bargaining power (labour vs capital)
Labour share vs capital share of income
Competition policy and rent concentration
“Jobless growth”
Social legitimacy (“social permission”) of technology
Welfare states, safety nets, and adjustment costs
Education and reskilling policy
Economic statecraft and coercive diplomacy
Credible threats, deterrence, commitment problems
Signalling, reputation, and strategic interaction
Sanctions/retaliation risk and market reactions
Structured finance and contract design
Sukuk structures and asset-backing
Risk allocation and cash-flow waterfalls
Information asymmetry, certification, and standards
Liquidity, investor base diversification
Agglomeration economies and clusters
FDI attraction and place-based industrial policy
Spillovers (knowledge, suppliers, networks)
Human capital pipelines and skill ecosystems
Infrastructure as a complement to investment
Institutions and political legitimacy
Collective action and protest dynamics
State capacity and enforcement costs
Credibility of reform and path dependence
Political economy of ideology vs material incentives
New lectures and Case Studies added. mid-Jan 2026
In an age where artificial intelligence promises unprecedented efficiency and assistance, the question arises: what becomes of humanity’s ability to think deeply, critically, and consciously? Across sectors—be it governance, education, labour, or technology—there is a growing tension between the allure of convenience and the imperative of maintaining human judgment. These case studies explore the philosophical and economic challenges posed by AI, emphasizing the need for conscious thought as the cornerstone of innovation, freedom, and progress.
Case Study Summaries
The Erosion of Critical Thinking in the AI Economy:
Explores how AI’s automation of decision-making risks diminishing critical thought, urging policies that prioritize education and intellectual empowerment to sustain long-term economic growth.The Paradox of AI Assistance and Human Autonomy:
Examines the tension between AI’s efficiency and its potential to foster dependency, advocating for conscious policies that elevate human agency alongside technological progress.Inequality and Power in an AI-Driven World:
Highlights the risk of AI concentrating power in the hands of a few, stressing the need for deliberate thought and action to address systemic inequities and preserve democratic participation.Education as the Battleground for Human Reason:
Focuses on the role of education in cultivating critical thinking and ethical reasoning, urging reforms to ensure future generations think critically in a world dominated by AI.Governance and the Balance of Ethics and Innovation:
Explores policy solutions to ensure AI assists rather than replaces human reasoning, emphasizing the need for conscious thought in balancing innovation with ethical responsibility.
Welcome to Thinking Economics.
A summary as to what is include in terms of topics:
CONTENTS: THINKING ECONOMICS
Philosophers and economics
Ethics
Valuation
Automation
Globalisation
Climate change
Nudges
New Economic Thought
Thought experiments
Behavioural Economics
Learning and Mind Maps
Current economics
But within those broad categories there are many other topics:
War and its impact on economies. Can a war ever be just? What is given up to go to war?
The Allocation of Scarce Resources: Economic philosophers from Adam Smith to modern economists have pondered how to allocate these scarce resources efficiently. This issue encompasses questions of production (what to produce, how to produce) and distribution (for whom to produce).
The Balance Between Equity and Efficiency: Philosophers have long debated the trade-off between equity (fairness) and efficiency (the optimal allocation of resources).
The Role of Government in the Economy: The extent to which the government should be involved in the economy is a central question in economic philosophy. Views range from the laissez-faire approach, which advocates for minimal government intervention as espoused by Adam Smith, to the belief in a significant role for government in regulating markets, redistributing income, and providing public goods, as argued by economists like John Maynard Keynes.
The Nature and Causes of Economic Growth: Understanding what drives economic growth and how to sustain it is a core concern.
This course is made up of:
Lectures - including resources for further research - and questions to make you think
Educational Announcements detailing updates
Manual(s)
The Q/A - this is where 'real' learning takes place as you can discuss the case studies and other homework
