There is a general impression that economics as a subject is very dry, colourless and devoid of humour. Indeed, quite a majority of the students have not developed much romance with the discipline for the way in which it is taught. Disproving this general impression, one of my collegaues Prof. Ram Gopal, a great and passionate teacher of economics, has just sent an e-mail bristling with economics full of fun and frolic and heightened sense of humour. Let me share his thoughts with the broader audience.
RIDDLES
Why was it impossible to shake hands with Adam Smith?
Because his hands were invisible.
Which city would Marx first visit when he traveled to a foreign country?
The “Capital” city, of course!
Why did Keynes avoid participating in marathon races?
Because according to him “in the long run we are all dead”!
Why would it be nice to have Ricardo as a tenant?
Because he will never forget about the rent.
Why does Dracula hate economics textbooks?
Because of the crosses, the Marshallian cross and the Keynesian cross.
How many members of the Chicago school of economics will it take to change a light bulb?
None. The free market will change it automatically if necessary.
OTHER FUNNIES
“The invisible hand works well, but it often works by strangulation”. (Joan Robinson, about the market mechanism)
“A Russian proverb says that ‘Fear has big eyes’, but I would add that it also has deaf ears”. (Jagdish Bhagwati, referring to the attitude of middle-class Americans about outsourcing to India)
Name the two great personalities who abused each other as “Ba…td” and “SOB” respectively when they were introduced to each other.
Answer: Adam Smith and Samuel Johnson (This is a true story; who says great thinkers are always polite?)
It was said about Schumpeter that he always gave A grade to three groups of students: a) All girl students, b) All the Chinese students and c) All the remaining students.
Haseeb A. Drabu, now the chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Bank said “Delhi is Keynesian while Bombay is Schumpeterian.” I would like to extend the thought experiment. Bangalore is Coasian. (Economist Niranjan Rajadhyaksha in his column Café Economics)
The only case of a ghost written Ph.D thesis turning out as an excellent work: the American economist Paul Sweezy needed some money when he was a Ph.D student and so he ghost wrote a thesis for a classmate. That work is regarded as a masterpiece on the Japanese economy and the guy who bought it got a very good job because of the thesis!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
In contrast I think Economics has the most to offer to a student. It offers brilliant word play, logic, math and endless innuendoes. I fell in love with the subject when during my first class my teacher talked to us about "Digging a pit and filling it up". I think with that phrase I understood humanity's work on earth ;o). Brilliant.
Thankfully I had the right teachers in Economics throughout who made me interested enough in wanting me to come back to class each day.
Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Celular, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://telefone-celular-brasil.blogspot.com. A hug.
Amazing way of teaching the tough subject by making it so simple. Hats off !! Prof.Ram and Sambandhan
Post a Comment