Bauman prefaces his seventy-minute act with a self-comforting reminder that as a standup economist, the only thing he has going for him is “low expectations”. Indeed, he begins with a verbatim replay of a five-minute piece that no doubt more than a few people in the audience have already seen on YouTube. Fortunately, things get a lot better after his signature piece, beginning with the sharing of hysterical reactions culled from YouTube discussants.
He then outlines the history of humour in economics (inasmuch as it exists), sketching some of the more eyebrow-raising papers to have been published (such as one on vampires) and detailing some of his own academic endeavours in climate change, political dynasties, and health care. This segment demands less knowledge of economics but does require some understanding of American politics.
Until now the style is “PowerPoint casual” – the lecturer from Washington University seems perfectly at home with his PC and data projector. His presentation is slick and punchy, and there are no glitches. But just when we start to suspect that we’ve been duped into spending our Saturday night at an economics lecture, he tacks.
For the last twenty minutes, the self-labelled geek closes his computer and stands alone with the mic to deliver his non-economics material. This is as good as or better than the money talk, touching on subjects such as his travels in South America, his dating life, and quinoa. One of his funniest sketches involves props: bumper stickers related to the Iraq war. More could be done with his attempt to have the audience simulate the American political spectrum.
In his international tour, Bauman doesn’t make much of an effort to adapt the material for non-Americans (not even substituting the local currency for dollars in his famous Snickers bar example). Nevertheless, it’s a likeable show, giving a good balance of economics and non-economics material. Towards the end he invited the audience to join him for a drink afterwards, and no doubt many took up the offer.
He then outlines the history of humour in economics (inasmuch as it exists), sketching some of the more eyebrow-raising papers to have been published (such as one on vampires) and detailing some of his own academic endeavours in climate change, political dynasties, and health care. This segment demands less knowledge of economics but does require some understanding of American politics.
Until now the style is “PowerPoint casual” – the lecturer from Washington University seems perfectly at home with his PC and data projector. His presentation is slick and punchy, and there are no glitches. But just when we start to suspect that we’ve been duped into spending our Saturday night at an economics lecture, he tacks.
For the last twenty minutes, the self-labelled geek closes his computer and stands alone with the mic to deliver his non-economics material. This is as good as or better than the money talk, touching on subjects such as his travels in South America, his dating life, and quinoa. One of his funniest sketches involves props: bumper stickers related to the Iraq war. More could be done with his attempt to have the audience simulate the American political spectrum.
In his international tour, Bauman doesn’t make much of an effort to adapt the material for non-Americans (not even substituting the local currency for dollars in his famous Snickers bar example). Nevertheless, it’s a likeable show, giving a good balance of economics and non-economics material. Towards the end he invited the audience to join him for a drink afterwards, and no doubt many took up the offer.