Joshua Hall, editor of the new book Homer Economicus, discusses how to teach economics via The Simpsons. Getting students to understand the economic way of thinking might be the most difficult aspect of a teaching economist's job. The counterintuitive nature of economics often makes it difficult to get the average student to think "like an economist." To this end, the need to keep students engaged and interested is essential when teaching economic principles and interdisciplinary approaches to engaging students are becoming increasingly common.
Professor Hall, from the University of West Virginia, extends this interdisciplinary approach to economic education by providing examples from the long-running animated television show The Simpsons that can be used to stimulate student discussion
and engagement in an introductory course in microeconomics. To create the book, Hall recruited 22 contributors, most of whom are professors of economics at universities such as George Mason and Baylor, allowing the reader to hear from several different voices as they unconventionally illustrate a wide range of economic topics.
The book is primarily meant to function as a teaching resource for students, but can also be a fun read for those who enjoy pop economics – and of course the Simpsons fanatics who buy anything related to the show.
Find on
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Listen to the author on
Tom Woods radio show
Hall explains his approach in
The Journal of Private Enterprise and on the
Stanford University Press blog
Review on
Bloomberg Boston Globe The Daily News
Paper on
Homer Economicus or Homer Sapiens? Behavioral Economics in The Simpsons by
Jodi N. Beggs
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