#99 | Frankly
The 10 Core Myths Still Taught in Business Schools
Description
Economics departments around the world teach a narrow boundary story of the way our world works. A narrative of infinite growth driven by consumption and money, which has dominated our culture and unknowingly shaped the way we live. But does this story really reflect our biophysical reality – or the full scope of humanity’s role within it?
In this week’s Frankly, Nate identifies 10 myths being taught in business schools today, and the massive implications these misconceptions hold for society. From the way we define value and the boundaries of success to the idolization of self-interest and human ingenuity, these so-called laws of economics were developed in a different world than the one we inhabit now. By exposing the unquestioned myths that are perpetuated in MBA education, Nate aims to sow the seeds of an economic system rooted in the real world – which may one day become a reality.
What would it take for the long-held “immutable truths” of economic theory to be questioned, and eventually changed to better reflect our material limits? How do we redefine “success” in a way that does not posit GDP as the main indicator of human or economic well being? Most importantly, if we shed ourselves of these delusions, how might we reimagine an economic system that centers the well-being of citizens, the health of the planet, and all of the species we share it with?
Show Notes & Links to Learn More
Download transcript00:00 – PDF of Graphs referenced in this Frankly
05:01 – Externalities
08:04 – Humans as social primates
08:38 – Price/Quantity Supply Curve graph
09:33 – A typical look at the standard supply curve
10:28 – Alan Blinder
11:48 – Nate’s PhD Paper
13:17 – Overview of the Cobb-Douglas function
13:57 – Steve Keen: “Labor without energy is a corpse; capital without energy is a sculpture.”
14:51 – check oil prices today
17:12 – Exxon Mobil 2024 Global outlook report
18:28 – Milking price graph is sourced from this presentation
19:30 – more on the “Carbon Pulse”
21:14 – deep look into Endogenous Money post-2010
21:59 – Bank of England: “Money Creation in the Modern Economy” article and video
23:05 – Ponzi Scheme / Bernie Madoff references
25:09 – U.S. Real GDP and Debt Growth Over Time graph
25:39 – U.S. Debt Productivity graph
26:08 – U.S. National Debt by Year and Administration graph
26:35 – further reading on debt productivity: “Debt and Growth: A Decade of Studies;” “The Impact of Public Debt on Economic Growth”
27:30 – U.S. Debt Ceiling
27:57 – Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, Bear Stearns bailout
28:58 – common view on GDP + importance
29:25 – GDP / Healthcare Spending in U.S. Versus Other Countries graph
30:56 – Healthcare spending in the U.S. vs other countries
31:57 – Ecological Versus Environmental Economies graphic
33:20 – Humanity’s Journey on Earth graph is sourced from this presentation.
35:15 – topsoil depletion, groundwater/fossil aquifer depletion, coral reef death
36:18 – Adam Smith and the “invisible hand”
37:29 – Long Term Economic Growth graph is sourced from this presentation
38:00 – The Human Economy – Population x Consumption graph is sourced from this presentation
39:20 – Planetary Boundaries graph
