20 Short Films About Economics

We The Economy is a series of short films about economics intended to address a series of crucial topics like "What is the Economy?" and "What is Money?" in simple, accessible videos. Now, because the videos are simple and accessible, they don't go deep on detail...but they do a pretty good job of covering the basics.

The project is headed by Morgan Spurlock (of Super Size Me fame) and Paul Allen (of Microsoft fame), and the films are a decent (and free) introduction to economic concepts. Here's the first one, directed by Spurlock, describing how "the economy" got started, using a wildly historically inaccurate (but amusing and instructive) set of cave-people:

Here are a few more in the series. First up, Lemonade War, featuring Patton Oswalt and Werner Herzog. (If you don't get why Herzog is going off the philosophical deep end in this video, check out the second clip in my review of Burden of Dreams.) The only complaint I have about this film is that the ending implies some sort of citizen revolt and change in the regulatory system, but doesn't really explain how that would work. But still, it makes a point in just a few minutes. Again, these are short films, not in-depth discussions. Have a look:

And here's That Film About Money (a two-parter), exploring the idea of what money is and how the fractional banking system works. Very good stuff:

There's much more where these came from.

(Via Open Culture.)