The Economy in Plain English with Prof Graeme Roy
Past event: Monday 29th January 2024
Have you ever thought about how would you answer the question, what is the economy? If you are not an economist, the answer is probably, "no, I've never thought about it".
Whether you think about it or not, your decisions to do or not do something have an impact on the economy. And, someone else's decision to do to not do something will also affect you.
At the David Hume Institute, we're on a mission to get more people talking and thinking about the economy. That's why we've launched a new series of online live events, where you can ask questions and get answers in plain English.
Hosted by journalist Clare English and Susan Murray, Director of the David Hume Institute we'll discuss the Economy in Plain English.
To start us off, Professor Graeme Roy from the University of Glasgow joined us to answer the question, what is the economy?
We discussed:
Economics is often misunderstood - lots of people think it is just money and finance but it's really about how society makes choices about the allocation of scarce resources.
Traditional measures of the size of a country's economy like GDP (Gross Domestic Product) counted things that could be easily measured. This means activities that are harder to measure are not included even if they are of great value.
Although the short-term is often front of mind when we hear politicians speak, it is important to think beyond election cycles when considering the economy and how to allocate scarce resources.
Listen to the full discussion:
