Five In Focus

Justin Wolfers

Justin Wolfers is an associate professor of economics in the Business and Public Policy Department at the Wharton School. He is a visiting scholar with the San Francisco Federal Reserve, a Research Fellow with the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, and a research affiliate with the Centre for Economic Policy Research in London. A native Australian, Wolfers’ research focuses on labor economics, macroeconomics, law and economics, social policy and behavioral economics. Beyond research, he is a popular MBA teacher, a contributor to The New York Times’ Freakonomics blog, a Wall Street Journal columnist and is a frequent contributor to the public debate.

JUSTIN WOLFERS' FIVE FAVORITE FILMS ABOUT MONEY

1. |

Boiler Room

Wall Street is just a bit too clichéd of a pick for a business-school economist, and my students tell me that Boiler Room is their generation’s equivalent. It’s also a more up-to-date commentary on the state of modern finance. While Gordon Gecko highlighted popular concern about corporate-pillagers in the 1980s, Boiler Room presages Bernie Madoff-style capitalism beautifully, depicting a brokerage firm pretending to sell stocks, but pocketing their clients’ investments instead.

2. |

Slumdog Millionaire

If modern capitalism fully provided for everyone who works hard, then the filmmaker wouldn’t have a story to tell. Instead, this movie is set against the vast slums of Mumbai, and the city enjoys a costar credit. Ultimately the poverty of the protagonist and his friends lead to their exploitation. Seeing Mumbai up close, one is reminded of the importance of economic development, and how far we have to go to raise the world’s poor to an acceptable standard of living.

3. |

The Grapes of Wrath

As commentators constantly compare the current economic crisis with the Great Depression, this movie illustrates the perils of economic depression, particularly as it is experienced by the poor. Economics is not about abstract models, but rather about working to avoid the grinding poverty that Steinbeck observed in Depression-era American. It may surprise non-economists to learn that there’s still an ongoing debate in the ivory tower as to whether the business cycle matters. Steinbeck’s book, and this movie settle the debate, and avoiding another depression gives meaning to the study of what can otherwise be a pretty dry subject. A must-see for any serious student of the business cycle.

4. |

Modern Times

A 1936 Charlie Chaplin classic about the monotony faced by factory workers as a result of the Industrial Revolution. Profit maximization leads to this comedy in which Chaplin portrays a worker, who as he works harder, is rewarded only with more work. Saving time and money is all that matters as workers become robots, and it becomes clear that a better life is not necessarily the same thing as a more productive economy.

5. |

There Will Be Blood

A movie about the Southern California Oil Rush, and how a ruthless speculator conned many landowners into selling their land to him at reduced prices since they knew nothing about the value of oil. This shows a different side about the various rushes to the American west in the search for wealth, as those who left exploitation in the factories of the north or farms of the south found it again in the new frontier. Déjà vu all over again?