Econ Extra Credit with David Brancaccio

Want to succeed? Take an Econ 101 course

David Brancaccio and Daniel Shin Jan 28, 2020
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Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Econ Extra Credit with David Brancaccio

Want to succeed? Take an Econ 101 course

David Brancaccio and Daniel Shin Jan 28, 2020
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

This interview is part of our “Econ Extra Credit” project, where we read an introductory economics textbook provided by the nonprofit Core-Econ together with our listeners.


College students receive any number of recommended introductory courses. But according to New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, one of the key classes you might need to take to succeed in life might be an introductory economics course.

As part of the Marketplace Morning Report’s “Econ Extra Credit” project, host David Brancaccio spoke with Kristof about how an Econ 101 class can provide a student with a robust toolbox that could be used later in life to both understand and address larger issues like rent control or how to fund a tax cut.

“We’ve repeatedly mangled macro economic policy in the U.S.,” Kristof said. “It’s pretty obvious that even lawmakers kind of have no clue about really basic issues, like you know, what a fiscal stimulus is.”

Click on the player above to hear their conversation on the merits of Econ 101, as well as Kristof’s thoughts on how introductory economics has adapted to better reflect real world economic issues.

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