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Economics

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This is a list of courses on economics — from the UBI debate to post-scarcity thinking and the future of money. Let us know if you find these useful!

Earth's Economy in Star Trek EXPLAINED

The tour that opens the whole thought experiment: how the Federation actually functions without money — replicators, the New World Economy, and what people work for when nobody gets paid. Part of our Beyond Currency series. @OrangeRiver

See the full series on BeyondCurrency

Hayek and the Socialist Calculation Problem

Marginal Revolution University explains the classic case against every planned economy: prices as a compression algorithm for dispersed, tacit knowledge that no central planner can gather. The objection any honest post-monetary proposal has to answer first. Part of our Beyond Currency series. @MarginalRevolutionUniversity

See the full series on BeyondCurrency

Charles Eisenstein on the Gift Economy

The Guardian's interview with theorist Charles Eisenstein on the core principle of a gift economy — status flows from what you give away, not what you hoard, so the more you give, the richer you are. Part of our Beyond Currency series. @theGuardian

See the full series on BeyondCurrency

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

The famous RSA Animate of Dan Pink's talk on autonomy, mastery, and purpose — the research behind why people do world-class creative work without a paycheck, once survival is already covered. Part of our Beyond Currency series. @rsaorg

See the full series on BeyondCurrency

Community Land Trusts Are Expanding

PBS SoCal on how community land trusts keep housing permanently affordable by taking land off the speculative market — the land fix for the positional-goods problem, already working in hundreds of cities today. Part of our Beyond Currency series. @PBSSoCal

See the full series on BeyondCurrency

Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek

Trekonomics author Manu Saadia interviewed on The Zero Hour about the economics of Star Trek — the deepest serious treatment of how a post-scarcity, post-money Federation could actually hold together. Part of our Beyond Currency series. @TheZeroHourwithRJEskow

See the full series on BeyondCurrency

An Introduction to a Resource-Based Economy

Peter Joseph's TEDxOjai talk — the most prominent activist articulation of the open-source resource tracker idea, from the founder of the Zeitgeist Movement. A lineage with its own controversies; judge the argument on its merits. Part of our Beyond Currency series. @LinguisticTeamIntl

See the full series on BeyondCurrency

The Gift Economy: A Resilient Alternative to Consumer Culture

A deeper dive into the motivation pillar: what an economy looks like when it runs on relationships and reciprocity instead of money, consumerism, and scarcity. Part of our Beyond Currency series. @ParkrosePermaculture

See the full series on BeyondCurrency

Power to the People: Community Land Trusts

The civil-rights-era origins of community land trusts, in depth — how the single highest-leverage transition institution in the post was invented, and why it works. Part of our Beyond Currency series. @WeActRadioDC

See the full series on BeyondCurrency

Sam Altman Gave Thousands of People Free Money — Here's What Happened

The inside story of the OpenResearch study, one of the largest unconditional cash experiments in US history: 1,000 participants, $1,000 a month, three years — and results that both UBI's champions and skeptics claimed as vindication. Part of our Silicon Safety Nets series. @Forbes

See the full series on SiliconSafetyNets

Musk and Other Tech Leaders Signal Support for UBI Amid AI-Fueled Layoffs

CBS News on the 2026 moment tech billionaires lined up behind universal basic income — including Elon Musk's call for a "Universal High Income" — and why lawmakers question whether the moguls would ever accept the taxes to fund it. Part of our Silicon Safety Nets series. @CBSNews

See the full series on SiliconSafetyNets

Sam Altman on UBI: "I'm Very Much in Favor"

Altman explains why he backs a cash floor — and why he suspects the AI era may demand something different: "universal basic compute," giving every citizen a slice of AI capacity rather than a check. The seed of his later collective-ownership proposals. Part of our Silicon Safety Nets series. @UBIWorks

See the full series on SiliconSafetyNets

AI Is "Juicing Up" Inflation, Says Moody's Mark Zandi

Moody's chief economist on CNBC explaining how the AI buildout's demand for chips and electricity is feeding inflation right now — while the promised productivity payoff lags behind. Essential context before anyone proposes adding stimulus checks on top. Part of our Silicon Safety Nets series. @CNBCtelevision

See the full series on SiliconSafetyNets

Warning: The Inevitable Collision of AI, Jobs, and Inflation

An economist's warning about the squeeze coming for policymakers: AI-driven job losses on one side, AI-driven inflation on the other — and central banks with tools that can only fight one at a time. Part of our Silicon Safety Nets series. @RichardJMurphy

See the full series on SiliconSafetyNets

Economist Explains What Happens After AI Takes All Jobs

Economist Daniel Susskind on the world after work — why the outcome of the AI transition is a choice we make rather than a fate we accept, and what a meaningful human life looks like when labor is no longer at the center of it. Part of our Silicon Safety Nets series. @futureoflifeinstitute

See the full series on SiliconSafetyNets

How the Electrical Grid Is Being Rebuilt for AI | Bloomberg Primer

Bloomberg traces exactly how AI data center demand flows through the grid and onto household electric bills — the reporting behind this post's central claim. Part of our Ratepayers Subsidizing Tech's Power Boom series. @business

See the full series on RatepayersSubsidizingTechPowerBoom

AI Demand Driving Up Energy Costs for Everyday Americans, Bloomberg News Finds

CBS News covers the same Bloomberg reporting, connecting AI data center growth directly to rising household electricity costs. Part of our Ratepayers Subsidizing Tech's Power Boom series. @CBSNews

See the full series on RatepayersSubsidizingTechPowerBoom

Why America Is Struggling With EVs

MotorTrend's documentary on the U.S. EV transition, including the charging-infrastructure and electric-grid chapters behind this post's EV fast-charging section. Part of our Ratepayers Subsidizing Tech's Power Boom series. @MotorTrendWatch

See the full series on RatepayersSubsidizingTechPowerBoom

The Grid Doesn't Need More Power Plants (It Needs This)

Matt Ferrell makes the case for decentralized generation and storage — the technical backbone of the "Bring Your Own Clean Power" argument in this post. Part of our Ratepayers Subsidizing Tech's Power Boom series. @UndecidedTechnology

See the full series on RatepayersSubsidizingTechPowerBoom

EVs - Can The Grid Cope?

A British perspective on whether the grid can handle accelerating EV adoption — a reminder that the oil-shock-driven EV surge is straining grids on both sides of the Atlantic. Part of our Ratepayers Subsidizing Tech's Power Boom series. @theelectrictransition

See the full series on RatepayersSubsidizingTechPowerBoom

I Didn't Want to Make This Video.

Astrum Earth's clear-eyed look at where the world actually stands on the 1.5°C target — the climate stakes behind requiring growth to bring its own clean power. Part of our Ratepayers Subsidizing Tech's Power Boom series. @AstrumEarth

See the full series on RatepayersSubsidizingTechPowerBoom

Yin-Yang Is Not About "Balance" | What the Original Actually Says

TangSaying revisits the original Chinese philosophy behind the yin-yang symbol — arguing it was never about static balance, but about one force continuously transforming into its opposite. A closer fit for this series' "engine" metaphor than a simple scale. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @TangSaying

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

Economic Systems and Macroeconomics: Crash Course Economics #3

Jacob Clifford and Adriene Hill lay out planned economies, market economies, and communism, then land on the point this series builds on: most countries end up choosing a mixed economy in practice. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @crashcourse

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

China Does Capitalism Better Than America

A structured debate — from the organization formerly known as Intelligence Squared U.S. — on whether China's state-directed model actually out-executes America's market-driven one. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @OpentoDebate

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

The Space Race (Back) to the Moon: Artemis, Moon Bases & Competition Beyond Orbit

Perun's long-form, analytical breakdown of the modern space race — Artemis, lunar bases, and the US-China rivalry — including a dedicated chapter on whether this is really a "competition." Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @PerunAU

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

The hidden meanings of yin and yang - John Bellaimey

The classic explainer of the yin-yang concept's origins in Taoism — referenced as further reading since the channel disables embedding. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @TEDEd

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

Why Understanding Yin Yang Will Change Your Life | Taoism

A straightforward balance-and-harmony framing of yin-yang, closer to this series' own wording than the embedded TangSaying video. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @InsightJunky

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

What are Capitalism, Socialism & Mixed Economic Systems?

A plain-language rundown of capitalism, socialism, and mixed economic systems, covering the same ground as this series' embedded CrashCourse video. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @SociologyVibes

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

The Purpose of Mixed Economies

Another solid rundown of the free-market/command/mixed-economy spectrum, with Professor Dave's usual deadpan delivery. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @ProfessorDaveExplains

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

Socialists vs Capitalists | Middle Ground

Participants across the capitalist/socialist divide try to find common ground — a structured-discussion format rather than a debate. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @jubilee

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

The Complete Guide to Socialism vs Capitalism (Myths Explained)

A market-libertarian take on common capitalism-vs-socialism myths, from John Stossel's channel. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @StosselTV

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

Capitalism vs. Socialism: A Soho Forum Debate

A formal Oxford-style debate on capitalism vs. socialism, hosted by the libertarian Reason Foundation. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @ReasonTV

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

Capitalism vs. Socialism: Which Works Better? [Deep Dive into Public Data Analysis]

A data-driven comparative breakdown of capitalist and socialist economies using public data. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @sprouts

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

Capitalism Vs Socialism: Hasan Piker and Tom Bilyeu Debate Modern Economics

A left-vs-center commentator debate on modern economics between Hasan Piker and Tom Bilyeu. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @TomBilyeu

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

Top White House Advisor: The US Empire Is Declining And Socialism Is Coming Next! | David Friedberg

An interview with a White House economic advisor on the US economic trajectory and the case for expanded social programs. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @TheDiaryOfACEO

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

What Is Democratic Socialism?

Commentary on the democratic-socialist movement specifically — narrower than this series' mixed-economy framing, but a useful contrast. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @touretube

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

What democratic socialism is and how it's different from communism

A mainstream-news explainer distinguishing democratic socialism from communism. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @GMA

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

The Simple Question Socialism Couldn't Answer

A critical, rhetorically framed take skeptical of socialism. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @Maxinomics

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

Why No One in America Understands Socialism

Independent commentary on why socialism is so widely misunderstood in American political discourse. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @kraftythinking

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

Capitalism vs. Socialism: Coleman Hughes and Bhaskar Sunkara Debate

A substantive debate on capitalism vs. socialism between two well-known commentators. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @ColemanHughesOfficial

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

The Truth About the “Moon Race”

Independent spaceflight journalism arguing the US-China "race" framing is largely overblown — a sharp thesis, though parts of the video now read as dated (recorded before Artemis II flew). Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @NASASpaceflight

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

US vs China: Who is leading the race to the Moon? - Asia Specific podcast, BBC World Service

A chaptered, current interview covering Artemis II, China's state-led model vs. US private space companies, and why both countries are racing back to the Moon at all. Part of our Global Economic Engine series. @BBCWorldService

See the full series on GlobalEconomicEngine

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