Tellynomics

This reminds me of a book idea I have: Tellynomics, or A Lazy Economist Sits on His Jacksy and Watches the Box. The idea is to use TV programmes to discuss economic ideas. Chapters would include:
Come Dine With Me, game theory and social norms.
Deal or No Deal and risk aversion.
Class struggle and the decline of Paul Daniels.
24 and transactions costs.
What Katie Did Next, broken Britain and superstar economics.
The Weakest Link and discrimination.
Konnie Huq, Holly Willoughby and real business cycles.
Football and the myth of maximization.
The Secret Millionaire, bounded knowledge and justice.
Masterchef, job satisfaction and entrepreneurship.
There would be breaks between chapters, in which I flick over to the music channels and discuss cognitive biases in popular songs.
This book, however, is unlikely to ever be written. One reason for this is that it’ll be wrecked between the Scylla of my disinclination to work and the Charybdis of publishers’ disinclination to pay. A bigger reason, though, is that as it stands there’s nothing about The Lovely Christine Bleakley. I’m going to do something on economic aspects of TLCB, or die trying. 

Comments

[Adam]

Why does it have to be a book?

You could have your own show. Like Screenwipe with economics instead of sarcasm.

[RH]

Agree with Adam. Would be fun to have you on TV. Cant assure you will win ratings because you wont be dumb.

[kinglear]

Hm she always reminds me a bit of Carol Vorderman crossed with Esther Rantzen. Until she speaks, of course. But there might be an economic thesis on how she went after the extremely ugly man standing behind her. Couldn't possibly be a) money b) power c) self interest, could it?

[chris]

Thanks chaps, but you wouldn't want me on TV - I've got the face for radio and the voice for teletext.
Then again, this hasn't stopped Adrian Chiles.
@ Kinglear - 2 theories. One is proximity. Women don't go for men who are good-looking or rich or clever - they go for men they meet.
The other is that that, in personal qualities, there's a reverse endowment effect - people don't value what they have. So intelligent men don't go for intelligent women, thinking brains are over-rated, and good-looking women don't go for good-looking men.

[Alex]

Adam, don't you mean Arsewipe?

Kidding.

Anyway, the One Show is an awful bourgeois show. Perhaps a Marxist analysis of Ms. Bleakley would suffice?

Personally, I think you went into the wrong area. If you'd gone into subprime, well, you may have got your own mortgage sluts:

http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/08_47/b4109070638235.htm

Ah the joys of capitalism!

Right, back to devising a GOSPLAN for pornography...

[Alex]

"Women ... go for men they meet."

I did not know that.

[kinglear]

My father used to ask every good looking woman he met if she fancied sleeping with him. Apart from that being the wrong question (No I don't FANCY sleeping with you), he used to say that it was astonishing how many actually said they would.So I guess, Chris, your thesis that women go for men they meet could be right. I do know quite a lot of good looking women who have deliberately set out to find men who are rich - they don't seem to bother too much about good looking and clkever. Who says women are shallow?