Economics Makes You Selfish?- Econ in Real Life

Thank you so muych for watching my videos. In this video I explore some arguments regarding why economics makes people selfish. I inlcuded several artciles about the subject below. Please feel free to read them over and let me know if you agree or disagree. Obviously, I pretty biased since I love and teach economics, but the evidence is pretty strong.
evonomics.com/more-evidence-th...
www.npr.org/2017/02/21/516375...
journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5...
Greg Mankiw: Does econ make people conservative?
gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2006/1...

[@HarpreetSingh-tt3io]

Makes you smarter

[@gregnelson9535]

Great video, like the format. I am finishing Russ Roberts book about Adam Smith's The theory of Moral Sentiments, and I feel we may be using his quote out of his entire context. As Smith said, we do things to be "lovely, and loved". So Im not sure the whole self interest, as we use it today, was his intent. Again just starting to get into this a little deeper. And I am certain that students today do NOT start off with Utopian views, believing Govt can fix everything. I feel it's quite the opposite, they do not believe the govt can do anything for them. Thanks for keeping us informed!

[@frozenwolf6962]

Keep making videos to help pass tests, got a 2,1 because of your help in economics!! But do this as well because it was very interesting

[@JohntheJuan]

Hey I have been watching your videos for years. Keep going, I hope you continue with your success

[@syedh1370]

ACDC Packet drive.google.com/file/d/1PSBwADutxYFsTeved4JAfpvAN0CCYaqT/view

[@wepranaga]

i love this new series man. 😍😍

[@rebeccatyndall301]

As a teacher, I'm loving the new format. Loved the old, too, though. I am excited about the new concepts and foci of your upcoming videos. You have been a true lifesaver for me in teaching AP Econ and I am forever grateful for your contributions to this discipline--and so are my students! :)

[@philippaettrick7012]

I am really enjoying these new styles of practical-application videos! I have wondered about Economics making people more selfish or even conservative, but I love the fact that it forces me to be less idealistic and more practical.

[@zach7559]

The new background is fire!!

[@MrChopstsicks]

It’s why my parents donate to specific orphanage with money. Why not go there and help out? Give out the books, clothes. Well, in that few hours. My parents could’ve struck up a deal and make more money. The opportunity cost is too high to be there in person. In their own self interest, they’ve donated more money than actually being there.

[@leopard6554]

**Dear Mr. Clifford,** Thank you for your thought-provoking perspective on economics. While I understand the concern that economics can make people appear selfish, I would argue that it can also lead to a deeper understanding of societal systems and the motivations behind them. This increased awareness can sometimes feel like a shift towards self-interest, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a negative thing. Consider the analogy of a car. Someone who doesn't understand how a car works might simply see it as a machine that runs until it breaks down, requiring repairs at a cost. In contrast, a mechanic possesses a deeper understanding of the car's inner workings. They can diagnose the cause of a breakdown and make informed decisions about repairs. Does this knowledge make the mechanic inherently selfish? No, it simply equips them to navigate the world around them more effectively. Similarly, economic understanding allows us to make informed decisions as individuals within a complex system. It doesn't have to lead to selfishness, but rather to a more nuanced perspective on how our choices interact with the larger economy.

[@joeyscott2525]

Maybe the real problem is folks' misunderstanding of terms. Greed and self-interest are not the same...

[@yasminfarzan6371]

Oh man, I love economics soooo muchhhh!!! and I think it might make you a little more selfish but it definitely made me a more passionate and understanding person

[@oiausdlkasuldhflaksjdhoiausydo]

I’m a big fan of economics but many times I found myself taken back by the sociopathic analysis of many popular economists like the Freakonomics guys. It is sad but true, a lot of economists are probably in the spectrum of either sociopathy or autism. Every job attracts a certain type and the extreme type attracted by economics tends to be a bit sociopathic.

[@JacobAClifford]

I saw a videos once that said that a disproportionate number of CEOs were sociopathys. I'll see if I can find it. Let me know if you find it first.

[@oiausdlkasuldhflaksjdhoiausydo]

Oh yeah. That was an old study out of which a million articles came. But to be honest, probably every job attracts a certain type and the extreme type is always going to be unhealthy. I work in a creative field and I can tell you the arts attract the neurotic type. Not a good thing either. Whatever you do it is good to be aware that there are more things in the world.

[@nyro1109]

I don't think it makes you selfish as a whole but allows you to have a wider perception, thus acting selfish in some ways due to a better understanding.

[@ringkunmori]

Hey Mr.Clifford, what do you think of Thanos in infinity war?

[@libertyordeath1211]

Fee.org did a video addressing thanos. They also did one on wakanda

[@JacobAClifford]

Yes, they did a great job. I have it on my list of movies for an Econmovies episode

[@syedh1370]

ACDC Packet drive.google.com/file/d/1PSBwADutxYFsTeved4JAfpvAN0CCYaqT/view

[@thetechrepublic]

@@syedh1370 please don't do this to mr. Clifford. He puts in a lot of time and effort and has a really high opportunity cost for making these amazing videos. Please don't cut his income by doing such a thing. Respect mr Clifford for what he has done!

[@thetechrepublic]

@@JacobAClifford mr Clifford I would really suggest using patreon for your ultimate review packet

[@veefrag1]

Glad you’re still teaching the masses! Everybody’s favorite teacher at SP, videos helped me through community college, now I’m still watching them working on my business degree at SDSU. Appreciate everything!

[@lehyman737]

I studied economics since O levels, now I am doing economics in A levels and plan to study more into Macroeconomics. So far I've become more neutral than following different economist. I prefer being an observer, research and use quantitative data, and qualitative data. Also, I do agree on your views. It just depends on the situation in life. 👏

[@Rohan-mf5ty]

Hi Mr Clifford, can u please make a video about demonetisation in India. whether this policy was good or bad.

[@roadtoad3484]

Please keep doing these videos! I love to hear your perspective on subjects related to economics. I am a new Econ major and listening to you explain things in an economic way is really helpful for me to understand concepts better. For instance in this video you touched on the trade off of equality and efficiency in allocating societies resources and I feel like it sinks in better when I hear it from you and read about it also.

[@thiendnguyen]

@ACDCLeadership: Is it true to say More than half of the money issued by the government is actually held by people in foreign countries. A country is hence less than half as wealthy as government statistics indicate?

[@daa002]

I found your videos when I began looking for extra help in my microeconomics class. I git an A, thank you for that. No doubt I'll get an A in my macro class I'm in right now. I'm really torn between the 2 formats. They're both so good I'll continue to watch regardless.

[@JacobAClifford]

Thanks

[@syedh1370]

ACDC Packet drive.google.com/file/d/1PSBwADutxYFsTeved4JAfpvAN0CCYaqT/view

[@jonyjonsy]

You quoted Murray Rothbard. You have balls. I like you. Jokes aside thanks for all of your videos Mr Clifford! I got an A in my Economics A level (it's the UK's equivalent of a high scool education certificate, I think you guys call it a diploma) thanks to you! I started out as a liberal, I was pro every gov intervention to "help the poor", I studied econ and now I'm a libertarian; fiscally conservative and socially liberal, much like Rothbard. I'm doing an financial economics undergrad now, again because of you! I like the new background. Keep up the good work 👍👍😊😊

[@manavsridharan3811]

Hey, loving the new background, and I for one think there is nothing wrong in being "greedy", if being greedy means maximizing efficiency.

[@kennchen2925]

It really depends on what would be considered as a selfish behavior, if helping others make someone feel better, then one can argue that the person is self motivated.

[@JacobAClifford]

Yes, I was going to add that in there. I should have. There is a scene in Star Trek 2 where Spock dies to save the crew of the ship. It is a good example of what you are talking about.

[@isaacliu896]

In general (and making the observation that many Economics students go for wall street or consulting jobs after graduation) I would say that yes, there is perhaps a tendency towards selfishness or at least self interest where perhaps too much value is placed on money. But the entire other half of the field, which focuses on policy and the public sector, how to make society work, is the exact opposite of selfishness.

[@JacobAClifford]

Agreed. Economics helps in both cases. Which path are you going for? Money or public service?

[@isaacliu896]

Public service, most likely!

[@ciaransheil563]

love the vids

[@daliborkrajc7437]

WoW ! Impressed. Coherent !

[@leopard6554]

We are very interested to this kinds of videos 📹 😀 please make more 🙏 😊 😀 Thank you very much 😊 ☺ 🙏 😀 🙂

[@iPurrifyy]

I think economics does make u more selfish but I don’t think it tends to shift ppls political views as often as well. Ur two examples of saying the worker wanting more pay and business charging more on a product are great examples of economics making ppl more greedy. So yes I do think it does make u more greedy/selfish.

[@JacobAClifford]

Agreed. I gues the question should be "Is it bad to be greedy?

[@leonpetkov7377]

Hello! This type of videos is really great, in my opinion! I really enjoy them. Of course, the more 'to the book' videos are great, as well, but these ones are 'to the life', really. Thanks!

[@carlosvalladolid2170]

thank you for helping me pass mr.clifford. you are a lifesaver. i love you.

[@marcor7363]

Hey I bought your ultimate review packet and clicked on it many times to try to save it on my phone, because it’s better than having it on my laptop but since I clicked on it many times at the same hour it told me it expired smh

[@Babytiguer]

This looks more relatable. Perhaps a mix?

[@MrPaulopspm]

It doesnt make you selfish. The study suggests this... but as you pointed out, there are several hypothesis of why would that be. I, for one, find it hard to believe the study of the subject makes people less humane in some ways. Need more studies

[@brookefoster4766]

I loved this video, Mr. Clifford. This really hit the nail on the head for me. I've always had very liberal political views, but I've found that since starting my economics degree, I am aligning with conservative policy. Can there truly be a balance between the two? I used to empathize with humanity but I am seeing things from an economic and financial point of view without much consideration for the people. Anyways, thank you so much for your videos. I like this format but I like the other as well. A mix of the two would be wonderful.

[@shivanibiswal3269]

I definitely relate with this 💯

[@shamshirbrar7135]

you are great . from India

[@karthik4711]

Economics is AWESOME!!!!

[@wisanikenny5097]

Well, as you said Mr. Clifford, economists have a wide diversity of thought, so that explains why we make the decisions we make, and not to forget the idea of opportunity costs. So, I personally don't think it makes us selfish in any way.

[@quintessenceSL]

My layman's take on economics was that it functioned as a kind of moral reasoning, clarifying different aspects of a dilemma. I mean are we going to call ethicist selfish too because they have to make hard decisions? At worst, economics removes a layer of sentimentality and emotionalism from a decision, which often translates as do you want a solution that feels good or one that works (efficiently)? I trust the entrepreneur to elevate the status of man more than the philanthropist.

[@michaelpisciarino5348]

0:38 Rational Self-Interest. Homo Economicus. 1:23 Studies findings 1:58 Greed, how do you define it? 2:37 Traffic example 2:53 Self-Interested vs Selfish 4:28 Greg Manikiw 5:03 Express opinions (what ifs are hard to picture)

[@d_dave7200]

Even your own analogy betrays the problem. Changing lanes is fine... except that each person driving in self-interested ways is a big cause of traffic in the first place. Ironically, if everyone would slow down and try to keep distances equal and consistent, the overall traffic flow would be *higher*. Similarly, self-interest can end up with a much worse outcome for society, especially short-term self-interest, which many economists seem to implicitly promote. The problem with economics isn't the study of economics, it's that the way economics is taught glorifies this idea of self-interest until it becomes its own moral good, even though in reality it certainly isn't. If your goal is maximum economic efficiency, the result will be huge amounts of suffering in the world. Wealth inequality will be huge and unavoidable. Such a situation is economically very efficient, but not morally desirable. Heck, slavery is even more economically efficient depending on how you measure it, but obviously we're no longer willing to make that trade off.

[@d_dave7200]

Yeah -- that's a good example of the kind of thing I'm talking about.

[@MrPaulopspm]

Interestingly, I have read some articles actually demonstrating how a sistematically controlled traffic (and sistematically planned roads) would improve commute times. But hey, you still have an interesting point

[@DanNorton1]

‘The point here is that maybe the reason why economics students are more comfortable with greed is because they have a different definition’ (3:10). So the idea, if I follow you, is that they’re taking ‘greed’ to simply mean ‘self-interest’ and then saying they’re more comfortable with that; they don’t mean they’re comfortable with (actual) greed (i.e., ‘greed’ understood in the conventional sense) and selfishness, which really are bad. I note, however, that sometimes ‘selfishness’ is listed as a synonym of ‘self-interest’ in dictionaries, and 'self-interest' is defined in a way that is similar to the definition of ‘selfish’. E.g., dictionary.com’s first definition of ‘self-interest’ is ‘regard for one's own interest or advantage, especially with disregard for others.’ And it defines ‘selfish’ (in part) as ‘concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.’ Quite similar. So perhaps there is no word that clearly picks out the idea that you (and, I suspect, many others) would like to be able to denote with ‘self-interest’.

[@ashanticampbell9223]

My father told me that minimum wage was gonna be raised again, and instead of being happy that high schoolers like me working jobs that pay minimum wage were gonna have more money, my exact thought was "a lot of ppl are gonna get fired because employers won't be able to pay as many workers". I don't think I was being selfish, but I'm sure without the economics classes that I took i wouldn't have known the dangers of raising minimum wage.

[@willofdodge1]

Wouldn't higher minimum wage lead to more automation which historicaly improves the working lives of those still employed

[@MusicalInquisit]

@@willofdodge1 You are still ignoring the fact that businesses have to pay for those costs. If small businesses were unable to sustain that cost, the only way to make up for the fact of raising the minimum wage is to fire workers and increase the price of those goods (that is, make fewer goods). If we had fewer jobs, I would say that is not a good thing. Wait for automation to come when the aggregate is ready for it, or else you may be more ready to see monopolies and oligopolies.

[@mrudulareddy2150]

Mr Clifford :-)

[@karthik4711]

More videos like this would be great.

[@DeveshT]

hello sir, please Start comprehensive lecture series on International economics . you are awesome.

[@chideraesinaulo4095]

Mr Clifford, you have great oratory skills.

[@davida.taylor8444]

Your stuff is good, keep it up!

[@RoniRk]

You made me pass my econ, now I'm here to listen :)

[@richavohra8498]

Economics rocks!!!

[@cazzi1929]

In my opinion, economics does not make you selfish, but it does employ a less diplomatic form of thinking than the likes of politics. I do however think a lot of people who are more inclined to be selfish tend to be attracted to economics in a quest to understand and possibly justify their selfishness.

[@NIPSZ]

I was just talking about this with my girlfriend, yesterday. I totally agree. My sister is trying to get me into reading the bible and it says that money is the root of all evil, but money is needed to pay the bills. It is a tough debate.

[@MisterPol]

If you read the Bible closely, you'll see that it asks you to go out and better yourself, and that making money is not evil. What is evil is seeking money and keeping it all to yourself. That's what the Bible teaches you (there's that story of a poor man living in front of a rich man's house. The rich man never seeked to help the poor man and when he died, he went to hell). Money is the root to freedom. How you use that money may lead to evil. Money itself isn't evil. It's our human interests that may be evil. Hope this helped a bit.

[@shlomosilversteinberg5785]

Your sister is stupid. Tell her to read the bible, then research what the meaning of each verse said is. "Money is the root of all evil" is one of the biggest examples of pseudo-intellectual armchair theologians interpreting the bible incorrectly. "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." Unless she is even stupider than you imply, reading that full quote should give some context on whether money is the root of all evil or the love of money causing people to lose faith in God is the root of all evil.

[@NIPSZ]

She never actually said that. I haven't spoken with her yet about the bible. She just recommended reading it. I just thought that the bible had said that inside. Thanks for calling my sister stupid. That was weird and mean. Strange comment.

[@JacobAClifford]

I think insulting people while telling them to read the bible sends a mixed message. Calling her stupid was probabaly a little out of line. Do you agree?

[@chideraesinaulo4095]

@@JacobAClifford So you Americans are still religious in 2018?

[@DuckSau2e]

Taking economics classes only made me believe more in communism aka be less selfish

[@LilFletch926]

SxRG- you're most likely referring to social democracy, not communism. Communism entails an elimination of private property and productive enterprises in favor of communal ownership. Though I would love for the idea to work now, I simply don't believe it's sustainable at the current time. Defiantly possible in the future as technological advancements are made and start to become to the means of production, but while human labor is still the main means of production, I don't think it will work. Social democracy however does what you are aiming for (distributing resources towards the masses) while maintaining the core structure of capitalism in terms of the means and relation of production.

[@JacobAClifford]

I'm thinking about making a video about social democracy. Any suggestions on source material?

[@DuckSau2e]

@@LilFletch926 no I'm referring to communism although I agree with what you have said

[@dariuschong4574]

@@LilFletch926 Many Americans can't differentiate between socialism and communism.

[@cherieminn2673]

i like you channel you're so passionate in what you do ECONOMICS MR JACOB make me excited to learn💜🤡🍇💯👍🏻

[@LilFletch926]

I believe the reason that many more professors in economics, as compared to other fields, prefer capitalistic economies is due to the fact that people are used more as a statistic of productivity. You would be extremely ignorant to claim that capitalism isn't the most productive economic system ever created, but how sustainable can it be. As time goes on people begin to notice how much more is being created and how little their lives are improving in comparison. I believe if this practice is continued, stability among the masses will become start to become more and more unstable (hence why the push for more social programs are becoming stronger). It's not socialism no matter how much Bernie and others would like to claim as it's not calling for a seizure of the means of production and/or changing the relations of production, it's simply a call for an expansion of the welfare state. Gabriel Almond of Stanford university has a great analysis of the subject in which he revises Joseph Schumpeters claims that socialism is inevitable in the future and claim that social democratic solutions will be the solution for maintaining societal stability. I believe this to be true among necessities (expanding the welfare state for necessities not luxuries). Yes there will be a sacrifice of productivity but the exchange for more societal stability is what I believe many economic professors are not accounting for since that's not an economic statistic. Many just recognize the loss of productivity and if you're a good economist you would have to claim that to be negative. I don't think economist are greedy, selfish individuals, rather focus on the sole factor of maximizing productivity.

[@thehanghoul]

Joey Fletcher i agree with almost all of your points. I believe in the future, like you’ve said, we’re going to have to sacrifice lots of personal freedom for a better world altogether. However, if there’s one point I’m not sure about, it’s how we’ll get there. Sure, pollution is bad. And we will have to cut lots of pollution for a better world. But is it fair to tell China and India to stop polluting, even though the US and Europe have already done so in the past 100 years? So it’s bit of a paradox: we all want a sustainable, peaceful planet. What’s unclear is how to get there. Finally, I wonder about the effects of a so called socialist policy would have on entrepreneurship. Would people adapt and change as fast in a comfortable environment? For one, forcing people to survive and not be comfortable has been a great driver of innovation (of course I’m not advocating for no support system at all. I believe there should be programs in place to help those below). So overall, it’s a tricky and precarious situation. I honestly believe what we should be doing is expand our mindsets regardless, and try out some different ideas, and not be stuck in dogmatic practices or outdated ideologies.

[@dariuschong4574]

Yeah but that's because you're only being taught the neoclassical school of thought which makes you think that way. Economics is ideological.

[@EuropeanQoheleth]

I'd put the reason for economics having so many conservatives is capitalism generating a lot of profit and planned economies being inefficient. Maybe they do care about other people and the poor but in the Anglo-American world people are stuck in this mentality of either free market-inequality and planned economy-equality so however bad capitalism might go people take the attitude of ''es gibt kein alternativ''. Rarely outside of devout Catholic circles do people consider a social market economy because they haven't heard of it.

[@amehjoseph2609]

Most people say they are stingy

[@right-winglibertarian3896]

I absolutely love that you quoted the great Austrian economist Murray Rothbard

[@ahmedalkatheeri7468]

I graduated college and still watching his videos

[@JacobAClifford]

Seriously, thanks for watching. Were you an econ major?

[@JeanGenie92]

Yes please, more videos like this!

[@Mr.Eminem]

Greed is important.. All big business tycoons are greedy....if you are not greedy we can't reach that level..

[@veefrag1]

Perfectly said. 👌

[@s0yspecial876]

This is pure wisdom.

[@jeannewynneherring]

What a great topic. I'm not an economist. I'm an artist. But, my experiences help me recognize logic and act less on my emotions where it's appropriate. Your answer to the first question is logical and I admit I never thought of it. However, I do believe we all obsess too much with more which leads to a bad cycle that we are stuck in. None are innocent of wanting more than we need. With the second question, I no longer give to charities after working as a manager for the Salvation Army. In my position I worked with the donations. I got to see the ugly truth about how charity works. I prefer helping people directly. The third, often when people use logic as oppose to allowing their emotions to run their lives, they can be seen as cold hearted. We all need each other. The emotional needs the logical and the logical needs the emotional. If we use our strengths to work together as oppose to putting each other down, we can do wonders for this world. Forming a wisemind bond is more important than being right. In my opinion. I love your work Clifford! Thank you for everything you do!

[@afterschool88]

I love economics whenever I go to the retail store I will look at the price and do the maths which to buy and which does not. HEHE

[@NM_kawaii]

Maybe that’s why my economist friend is so selfish and greedy 😂

[@zoklev]

for myself 0:23

[@alexandersarantis8673]

If there are people struggling with the morality behind economics and human behavior. Thomas Sowells: A conflict of visions. Does a great job explaining the two.

[@dragon3085]

I think 2 reasons for this observation is that some people really don't understand what the studies of economics is about and equate it with finance, and 2 as Behavioral economics gains more visibility, the idea of Homo Economicus will go away. I always viewed that model of a person just a very very simplified model of a person used for teaching introductory economics.

[@marcelmir2692]

If people want to help others at the expense of themself, they still do it only for themself. They do it to get attention or confirmation or hope to profit of it later. The more important difference between real human and homo economicus is the subjective information processing in the irrational decisions. But being selfish, at least 95% of people are having that totally in common with homo economicus - it just occurs in ways that sometimes also seem to be selfless.

[@jonathanhaughton3838]

It is not my experience that my fellow economists are more selfish than non-economists. Alan Blinder's book "Soft hearts hard head" captures the spirit much better. Economists tend to think rationally, which is surely why few are religious; since about half of charitable donations go to churches, the lack of enthusiasm for organized religion by economists goes a long way toward "explaining" why economists give less to charity.

[@Who-vt9oh]

"If you're driving in traffic, and another lane starts moving faster than yours, is it immoral or greedy to switch lanes? No. You're just acting in your own self interest. What *would* be greedy is driving on the shoulder illegally to get around traffic. That's not self interested, that's being selfish." The danger of this "everyone for themselves" mentality is it promotes antisocial behavior, which leads to all manner of problems. If people are only able to progress strictly through competition, those with aggressive, assertive personalities are favored, while those with less assertive personalities are at a disadvantage, regardless of talent or intelligence. Also, driving on the shoulder is only illegal if/because the state enacts and then enforces a law making it illegal. Should no such law exist (perhaps because some drivers lobbied to repeal the law), or if the law is not enforced, or not enforced equally, abuse becomes commonplace. But, the potential for very greedy, selfish people to abuse the system is even greater. Some drivers may be motived to seek the ultimate advantage by influencing the state, to not only repeal inconvenient regulations, but to have a special lane put in that only they, and a select few others, may use to bypass all other traffic. As using this special lane is not technically illegal, by Mr. Clifford's logic, it is not "selfish," but rather a clever expression of self interest. Lastly, this mentality completely ignores the roles cooperation and planning can play in making traffic move more efficiently, improving the speed of traffic for everyone. The self interest promoted by capitalism is short sighted and unenlightened. A better way is possible.

[@Who-vt9oh]

Ok, so good greed is good, but bad greed is bad. Right... and how does the all knowing, all powerful "free" market guarantee that only good greed will be rewarded, while making sure bad greed will be punished?

[@lehyman737]

I studied economics since O levels, now I am doing economics in A levels and plan to study more into Macroeconomics. So far I've become more neutral than following different economist. I prefer being an observer, research and use quantitative data, and qualitative data. Also, I do agree on your views. It just depends on the situation in life. 👏