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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Narrative Economics by Yale University

4.8
stars
420 ratings

About the Course

Dear Potential Learner, Please take some time to read through this note before deciding to enroll. This course, Narrative Economics, is relatively short and proposes a simple concept: we need to incorporate the contagion of narratives into our economic theory. You can think of narratives as stories that shape public beliefs, which in turn influence our decision making. Understanding how people arrived at certain decisions in the past can aid our understanding of the economy today and improve our forecasts of the future. Popular thinking heavily influences our answers to questions such as how much to invest, how much to spend or save, whether to go to college or take a certain job, and many more. Narrative economics is the study of the viral spread of popular narratives that affect economic behavior. I believe incorporating these ideas into our research must be done both to improve our ability to anticipate and prepare for economic events and help us structure economic institutions and policy. Until we better incorporate it into our methods of analysis and forecasting, we remain blind to a very real, very palpable, very important mechanism for economic change. Even in the dawning age of the Internet and artificial intelligence, so long as people remain ultimately in control, human narratives will matter. Maybe they will especially matter as the new technology exploits human weaknesses and creates new venues for narrative contagion. If we do not understand the epidemics of popular narratives, we cannot fully understand changes in the economy and in economic behavior. The course is broken into 4 modules: Part I introduces basic concepts and demonstrates how popular stories change over time to affect economic outcomes, including recessions, depressions and inequality as well as effective inspiration and growth.. These stories can be observed from diverse sources such as politics, the media, or even popular songs. Part II seeks to answer why some stories go viral, while others are quickly forgotten, by defining our narrative theory more firmly. This module enumerates and explores a list of seven propositions to help discipline any analysis of economic narratives. Part III examines nine perennial narratives that have proved their ability to influence important economic decisions. They include narratives regarding artificial intelligence, stock market bubbles, and job insecurity. Part IV looks to the future and highlights the opportunities for consilience in Narrative Economics. We share some thoughts about where narratives are taking us at this point in history and what kind of future research could improve our understanding of them. This course offers only the beginnings of a new idea and a few suggestions for how it could be used by economists and financial professionals. The tone is not prescriptive or authoritative, as perhaps my Coursera course, Financial Markets, is in places. It represents the beginning of the journey (epidemic). This course is my way of floating the “germ” of this idea out into the broader community of not only professionals but of anyone who is interested in discovering how and why things become “important” to us as a society. I hope some of you will become infected by this idea, mutate it, spread it, and advance it. The beginning of the journey is the easy part. The challenge will come in taking these concepts to the next level. We have the tools to incorporate narratives into our research and the moral obligation to act; only the work remains. - Robert J. Shiller...

Top reviews

AV

Jun 6, 2023

A very insightful and approachable course about the effects of human biases over the economic landscape and how social trends tend to leave a permanent mark on history and exact sciences like finance.

LA

Mar 10, 2024

I really enjoyed this course, it opened my eyes so much and I might keep going even though I only took this course out of fun, I was very interested in this topic. lucky me it Was interesting! Thanks

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51 - 75 of 135 Reviews for Narrative Economics

By Nakul S

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Jan 16, 2024

This was an interesting course to learn the basics of what factors influence the narratives shaping our world.

By sia

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Jul 10, 2023

Completely delightful, informative and inspiring! I'd pay to see a lecture of his in-person, when possible.

By Manuel J P M

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May 8, 2023

Interesting point of view of the influence of some ideas, social movements and tendency in the economy

By Kaushik P

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Jun 24, 2023

Excellent course. Articulates efficiently the big picture scenarios that influence everyday economics.

By Greg L

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Jun 2, 2023

Another really neat informative class on Finance from Robert Shiller! glad I took the time to do it

By Marc j C

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May 14, 2023

Great course. Very related to the stock market, explains a lot a reasons why stocks soar and fall.

By Michael R

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Jul 2, 2023

Exceptional course. While a simple theory, it provided far more in-depth content than I imagined.

By Johnny S

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Apr 22, 2023

I am fan of mr. Shiller's courses. You can learn tremendous things in his courses. Thanks a lot.

By Habeeb A F

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Oct 5, 2023

It was enlightening to learn how "Narrative Economics" have been driving Consumer Behaviour !

By Adam D l

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Aug 13, 2023

I loved it so much! It is not talked about enough, this should be its own narrative epidemic.

By Nada A

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Nov 8, 2023

I learnt a lot in this class and it pertains to what's going on in the world now. Thank you

By Rob W

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Apr 12, 2023

An interesting, short, introductory course to Narrative Economics that includes mermaids.

By Beat S

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May 30, 2023

With his unique style, Robert Shiller is connecting the dots of a key economic topic.

By Robert G

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Sep 12, 2023

Very interesting and well explained with many research tips and historical examples

By Nguyễn T A H

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Aug 23, 2023

Very helpful for me to know what I decide to tell and to be a good storyteller.

By Yangling Z

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May 4, 2023

Its enlightening to hear that narratives play such an interesting role in life.

By Chong K

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Nov 10, 2023

It is interesting to learn economics from narrative perspective ! Thank you !

By Fiona L

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Jul 2, 2023

It's a well-structured step-by-step introduction to narrative economics.

By O B

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Jan 1, 2024

Great course. Not just about economics, but much more. Truly refreshing

By Micaela C

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Aug 5, 2023

Great course, the presentation is clear, original, useful and engaging.

By Radovan B

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Apr 9, 2023

Excellent course .... Thanks a lot for all this knowledge you give us.

By Alberto N

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May 23, 2023

Excelent and clear, plain of meaningful, enjoyable and recommendable.

By Andrea B

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Apr 20, 2023

Really interesting ! I learned alot and it was fun to do.

Many thanks

By Shashi C

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Apr 27, 2023

Always interesting to listen Professor Shiller. Huge appreciation.

By Luca D B

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Apr 29, 2023

Really enjoyed the topic and how professor Shiller present it