Monty Python Star Takes on Institution of Economics Education in New Documentary

Economics is, at its core, the study of diverse financial systems and how they interact. It attempts to make sense of the ups and downs of various markets, the buying patterns of consumers, and the impacts of politics on the money in people’s pockets. But, at its heart, the academic study of economics relies on certain core principles that have not greatly changed in several hundred years.

Economics is, at its core, the study of diverse financial systems and how they interact. It attempts to make sense of the ups and downs of various markets, the buying patterns of consumers, and the impacts of politics on the money in people’s pockets. But, at its heart, the academic study of economics relies on certain core principles that have not greatly changed in several hundred years.

Among the assumptions of economics are the ideas that people act rationally and generally in their own best interest. When people defy these assumptions, it can create problems for traditional predictive models.

This is, essentially, the debate discussed in Monty Python alum Terry Jones’ new movie, premiering March 31. The film, called “Boom, Bust, Boom” is a documentary about modern economics from the viewpoint of the “Post-crash” Movement; a movement that calls for universities and other intellectuals to reexamine the assumptions upon which modern economic models are based. The movement came to prominence in 2008 after the financial downturn following the bursting of the American housing bubble had effects that rippled across the globe.

“There is a direct link between our unstable economy and the way economics is taught, “Jones said in a recent interview. “We cannot expect graduate economists to engage with the real world if they are taught crashes do not exist. They teach that capitalism is stable and humans are always rational. This is a fairy tale and it’s the reason we are in this mess.”

Jones’ movie, though a documentary, uses his trademark satirical wit to examine the very sober topic at its core. It features interviews with noted economists, celebrity supporters of economic change, financial journalists, and others with an interest in seeing modern economics retooled to reflect the perspective of the Postcrash Movement. Of course, many of these interviews are both in person and using animation, puppetry, and songs. Far from a fluff piece, the film was co-written with Theo Kocken, professor of Economics and Business Administration at VU University Amsterdam.

The film will premiere at the Z-Arts Theatre in Manchester on March 31, 2015 as part of a conference hosted by the University of Manchester’s Post-Crash Economics student society. The student group campaigns for the need to change the very foundations of modern economics education and thinking.

Paul Mason, economics editor at BBC’s Channel 4 News, recently spoke regarding the premiere of the movie and its underlying philosophy, saying there was “no single truth emerging from non-mainstream economics except that the orthodox stuff does not work.” He went on to say, “I don’t want to see a replacement orthodoxy cobbled together – we need economics to go beyond economics; from abstraction to realism, and from justification to critique … It’s a massive undertaking.”

The film cost under ₤400,000 pounds ($594,320) to make, and is the latest of several films with similar critiques of the prevailing economic theories. Others include Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” (2009) and Charles Ferguson’s “Inside Job” (2010).

In addition to discussing the 2008 crash, “Boom, Crash, Boom” goes into great detail about past bubbles, including 17th-century Dutch tulip mania and the 1929 Wall Street crash, then concludes that economic models must factor in instability as a normal feature of capitalism or similar crises will continue to happen.