Paul Krugman MasterClass Review 2022: Is It Worth It?

This article (Paul Krugman Masterclass Review) will provide you with the opportunity to read an in-depth evaluation of Paul Krugman’s Masterclass, including information on how the lessons are presented, who the course is best suited for, and the cost, and what I enjoyed about it, etc.

The Paul Krugman MasterClass might be exactly what you’ve been looking for if you’ve been trying to gain a deeper comprehension of how the global economy and political system function.

Paul Krugman awards: In the course of his career spanning more than 40 years, Paul Krugman has earned professorships at some of the most prestigious universities in the United States, published 27 books, and been awarded the Nobel Prize.

As a result, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential economists in the world.

However, along with widespread recognition, Krugman has also garnered criticism from individuals who hold viewpoints that are contrary to his. So, what precisely should you anticipate from this MasterClass?

What is the cost of attending the Paul Krugman MasterClass? Is it really worth it in the end? This Review of the Paul Krugman Masterclass will assist you in answering these questions, as well as others.

Even though I had no prior education in economics, I decided to take the class. I’m going to talk about the things that I liked and what I learned, in addition to offering a few of my own criticisms.

Who Is Paul Krugman?

Paul Krugman was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2008. Although paradoxically, he hasn’t changed the content on his own website since 2012, he is a frequent contributor to the Op-Ed column that is published in the New York Times and is an ardent user of Twitter.

Because Krugman is an economist, it is commonly assumed that he, like other economists, has a monotonous and uninteresting way of speaking about the “story” of the world. On the other hand, that could not be further from the truth. Krugman’s writing is frequently characterized by a tongue-in-cheek tone, and he even goes so far as to be fun with his forecasts.

Opponents of Krugman like to misconstrue the context of his 1998 prediction that the internet would soon become obsolete like fax machines in order to cast doubt on his work and discredit him.

According to Krugman, the “prediction” in question “was a thing for the Times magazine’s 100th anniversary, written as if by someone looking back from 2098,” and as such, “the goal was to be fun and provocative, not to engage in precise forecasting.”

Krugman is forthright with his political beliefs and does not hesitate to speak (or Tweet) his mind about the policies that he believes should be implemented. In addition, he is not a huge supporter of bitcoin.

Despite being well aware of all of this, I went into his MasterClass with the hope that I would improve my grasp of the world by picking up anything, anything, that I could take away from the experience. And I believe I did.

In addition to Paul Krugman blog, Paul Krugman can also be found on Twitter, where he has 4.6 million followers, and he regularly posts interesting content there.

What Is MasterClass?

MasterClass emerged onto the scene with the straightforward concept that anybody should have access to brilliant people and their knowledge.

The online education platform offers enlightening MasterClasses that are presented by individuals who have achieved worldwide renown in their respective areas of specialization. You may take classes in everything from culinary with Gordon Ramsay to filmmaking with Martin Scorsese, inclusive leadership with Bill Clinton, and thriller writing with Dan Brown. Classes are offered in all of these subjects and more.

The masterClass is well-known for its exceptional production values, and it is as stringent when it comes to the quality of its content and the breadth of its educational resources. This combination creates an earning experience that is both fascinating and one of a kind.

Masterclass comes at a reasonable price when one considers the instructors who teach there. You have the option of purchasing an all-access annual pass for the price of $180, which will allow you to enroll in any of the more than 100 MasterClasses that are offered on the platform.

Course Overview – Paul Krugman Masterclass Review

In addition to a 79-page companion workbook, the Paul Krugman MasterClass clocks in at little under 5 hours. There are six divisions, each with a total of 22 video lessons.

• Introduction
• Paul Krugman Economics is based on a set of fundamental principles.
• There is an economic crisis and a widening gap between the rich and poor
• A Global Theory of Health Care Trade Economics
• Economics in the Next Decade

As a preview of what’s in store, I’ve listed the content in each part below.

Introduction

A dramatic montage of images from recent financial crises opens Krugman’s presentation.

His reasons for wanting everyone to learn about economics, and what you can expect from this MasterClass, are laid forth in the following paragraphs. You’ll be able to do this, among other things:

• Think like an economist
• Analyze complex topics 
• Question ‘expert’ opinion
• Make better decisions about what’s worth paying attention to, and
• Just understand, and care, more about the world around you

The Fundamentals of Economics

Using a five-part series, Krugman explains his take on the state of the economy. And he’s eager to share his people-centered perspective on the subject.

For that purpose, he makes it clear that economics is concerned only with one aspect of human activity: how much money individuals make and how much money they spend. As a result, economists are better able to pinpoint what drives people’s actions, which they can then use to formulate hypotheses about human nature.

As a result, Krugman offers us the following two essential laws that guide his economic thinking:

Incentives and opportunities are powerful motivators for people.
There are always two sides to every coin in an economy; every sale is a purchase.
With these two standards in place, you can determine whether or not any economic “narrative” you hear is accurate. Using several examples, he demonstrates and clarifies this point.

In the next sections, you’ll learn about the following:

• The importance of analyzing past crises to arrive at problem-solving concepts
• The historic development of economic theory – with an overview of two key theorists: Smith and Keynes
• The relationship between political thinking and tax policy
• How to develop a rational view about taxes
• How the Federal Reserve arrives at decisions to stabilize the economy – and the limitations of the framework it uses.

It’s not a must, but Krugman assumes you’re familiar with some fundamental economic terminology. Despite having heard several of the terms before, I was unsure of their precise meanings, and there was no dictionary in the workbook to aid.

Later on, I’ll go into the positives and negatives of taking this class. To sum it up, I had to go back and review a few things that I hadn’t quite grasped the first time around.

Nonetheless, a MasterClass should be challenging. It was well worth the time and effort to get things straightened out. I noticed that my perspective on inflation and unemployment had shifted and that I now had a more nuanced understanding of what is considered “acceptable.”

Visual learners like myself found the animated pictures to be quite useful in simplifying complicated concepts. This emphasis on the relevance of history in economic thinking was a delight for me as a historian.

The final section, which discusses the framework limits employed by the Fed to stabilize crisis and Inequality in the economy, serves as an excellent segue into the next segment, which examines economic crisis theories in depth.

The final section, which discusses the framework limits employed by the Fed to stabilize crisis and Inequality in the economy, serves as an excellent segue into the next segment, which examines economic crisis theories in depth.

Crisis and Inequality

After briefly outlining why the Fed’s normal monetary policy fails in times of severe recession, Krugman moves into the meat of the piece. He illustrates this point with the financial crises of 2008 and the Japanese stock market disaster of 1998.

What you’ll study in this section is how to understand:

• ZLB and Liquidity Trap Hypotheses
• How monetary policy differs from fiscal policy
• Why did the financial crisis of 2008 occur?
• How the Great Depression of 1929 influenced the response to the 2008 financial crisis.
• Deficit expenditure can be beneficial in times of crisis
• a widening socioeconomic disparity’s toll on society, culture, politics, and the economy
• The 2008 financial crisis was explained the best by Krugman, in my opinion.

The way that this section built off of the prior one was fantastic as well. Fuller descriptions, examples, and visual aids were added to the bones to make them more palatable. You can save yourself a lot of time by checking up on economic concepts in these descriptions!

The Economics of Healthcare

In the United States, eight of the ten fastest-growing jobs are in the healthcare industry. It’s one of the most important and fastest-growing sectors in the US economy today.

While health and health economics are critical to the well-being of Americans, they are also critical to their economic well-being, according to Krugman.

However, as you’ll see towards the end of this section, the market for private health insurance:

• Is structurally prone to failure
• Inevitably makes healthcare more expensive
• This means the US spends vastly more per person on healthcare than other economically developed countries, yet has a lower life expectancy than most of them

Krugman examines the virtues and weaknesses of various government-regulated healthcare systems in multiple nations as he looks for solutions to the healthcare crisis.

Trade and Global Theory: Paul Krugman Theory

In the preceding section, Krugman provides historical background on global commerce. He wants you to know that this isn’t a story of ever-increasing globalization, as some have suggested. It’s a roller coaster of ups and downs, periods, and diverse driving factors.

By helping you comprehend economic concepts, he goes on to explain the influence global trade has on the planet, including:

• Advantage in Comparability
• The free trade model of David Ricardo
• Economics of scale based on his own New Trade Theory.
• Global commerce is largely to blame for the inequitable distribution of wealth and the tangled web of winners and losers that results.
• In the same way that global trade creates winners and losers, technological progress does the same. Because global trade transcends national borders and is caught up in nationalist sentiment, it is more important to individuals than domestic trade.

Krugman outlines China’s huge economic expansion and its impact on world economies and trade theory in the next lesson, which is linked here.

He explains why tariffs on China are self-defeating, why trade deficits with China are irrelevant, and who the actual losers are in China-US trade ties.

There are plenty of people who believe that trade with China has left many blue-collar workers behind, but this isn’t one of them!

Krugman’s competence in economic geography is discussed towards the end of this section. It’s a bigger issue for blue-collar employees in the US than globalization, according to Krugman. He goes on to explain why this is the case.

This was the most thought-provoking part of this MasterClass for me. Again, I had to revisit a few classes in order to be sure I was grasping all of the concepts.

What I like most about Paul Krugman Lectures was that they challenged conventional thought and offered new ways of looking at economic challenges.

In addition, he examines the reasons behind the persistence of false economic beliefs.

The Future of Economics

Krugman’s MasterClass aims to explain how many economic stories and notions are incomplete or even erroneous. Their persistence can be traced back to pre-existing beliefs or to the fact that they serve the interests of those in positions of wealth and influence.

As a result, it should come as no surprise that the final portion of this guide aims to assist you in better interpreting economic data. What you’ll learn in this section:

• Select your sources of information carefully and avoid sweeping generalizations.
• Use Krugman’s own methods to ensure that your findings are accurate.
• Writers who won’t admit their mistakes should be rejected.
• Learn from Krugman’s approach to crafting economic copy that is both persuasive and enticing.
• He then discusses the economic impact of technological advancement.

He focuses on the generally held belief that automation will have a negative impact on jobs. He goes on to explain why this is a “poor narrative” in the context of the whole economy. He illustrates this with a story about a hot dog factory that has been automated.

As his MasterClass draws to a close, Krugman shares some final tips to help you to:

• Think critically about economics
• Find valid experiences and data to analyze
• And challenge your own assumptions and biases.

Above all he urges you to become more aware, informed, and active citizens and not to, “Let the crazies grind you down.

Course Prices – Paul Krugman Masterclass Review

In the event that you are interested in attending Paul Krugman’s MasterClass, you have the following choices:

• $25 per month subscription
• $60 per 3-month subscription (saves you 20%)
• $180 per year subscription (saves you 40%)

Although it might seem like a lot of money upfront, purchasing a membership grants you access to more than ninety MasterClass classes.

If you combine Paul Krugman’s MasterClass with other similar classes, such as those taught by Bob Iger, Daniel Pink, and Howard Schultz, you can significantly reduce the “cost-per-course.”

For example, Bob Iger teaches business strategy, Daniel Pink teaches sales, and Howard Schultz teaches business leadership.

You also need to keep in mind that each MasterClass is the condensed form of someone’s lifetime of work that has been structured in a way that is easy to follow and entertaining to watch.

To put it another way, even if it turns out that the Paul Krugman MasterClass is not for you, there is a good possibility that you will find other MasterClasses that you will find enjoyable.

Is This Course Content Unique?

Paul Krugman is the author of more than thirty books, both scholarly and popular, on a wide range of topics. Amazon has a wide variety of options:

• Arguing with Zombies (2020)
• The Return of Depression Economics (2015)
• The Accidental Theorist (2015)

Additionally, there are a number of Krugman-related YouTube videos that can be viewed for free.

However, the substance of this MasterClass is certainly unique in that it distills four decades of highly regarded economics study into a single instructional, expertly produced MasterClass.

Pros & Cons – Paul Krugman Masterclass Review

PROS

Because Krugman has never done anything quite like this before, having access to him in this capacity through an online course is a pretty unique experience.

This MasterClass will be very beneficial to you if you are just starting out in the field of economics because Krugman explains a great deal of the reasoning that goes into economics.

Anyone who is interested in gaining a general understanding of the subject will benefit greatly from reading this. Also, even if you are too young to remember the financial crisis of 2008, you will find this to be an extremely beneficial course because Krugman devotes an entire class to discussing the event.

The course is also quite beneficial if you’re interested in understanding Krugman’s method; however, I wonder if there is anything in this course that you can’t learn from his laundry list of publications, which are already available and are, for the most part, free of charge.

In addition, I would suggest taking this course to someone who is completely unfamiliar with economics. It is an excellent beginning point for getting your mind thinking about the subject in a way that is transferable to nearly any other approach.

It is not necessary to have a background in economics in order to benefit from an understanding of what influences individuals to make decisions. Also, learning the fundamentals can aid you when it comes time to file your taxes. Trust me.

CONS

I have completed a few courses on Great Courses Plus and am familiar with certain fundamental concepts. As a result, I am looking forward to expanding my knowledge through this class.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t pick up very much information on economics from this class. Simply put, there was a lot of criticism of the current state of the economy and society, and there were some economic theories interspersed throughout.

I was anticipating a significant amount of graphs and charts, in addition to something a little more technical. However, the entirety of this course consisted of Krugman sitting in front of a camera and chatting while occasionally referring to graphs.

However, given that the title of the class is “Paul Krugman Teaches Economics and Society,” it’s possible that I’m not the intended audience for this class; alternatively, it’s possible that I came into the class expecting something that it doesn’t pretend to be.

The class appears to have high ratings amongst other students, which indicates that it has the potential to be an excellent class for the appropriate audience.

Fortunately, I find so much value in the MasterClass all-access pass that the fact that there is one course that doesn’t resonate with me doesn’t mean that I have to cancel my subscription.

Paul Krugman Masterclass Review – Is It Worth It?

In light of everything I’ve learned, I’d say yes.

This lesson was difficult for me because I had no prior knowledge or expertise in economics. Krugman’s storytelling style and use of analogies and imagery, however, make it accessible to the general public.

A captivating learning experience that forced me to think hard, think differently, and adjust my perspective was made possible by his kind, self-deprecating style and the unmatched production values of MasterClass.

To be safe, I usually suggest checking out the platform to see what’s available before making a purchase. It’s a no-brainer if you can discover at least two additional classes that you’d like to take advantage of.

This course would benefit greatly from reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s presidential history and leadership book and Bob Iger’s book on corporate strategy and leadership.

You’ll be taught how to do:

• When analyzing current events, use economic concepts to challenge “expert” views.
• Consider how economic philosophy has evolved in reaction to the events of the time
• Why understanding past crises can help us come up with new approaches to tackling current issues
• The causes of the 2008 financial crisis and how the past influenced our response
• Consider trade, globalization, taxation, and the provision of private health care with critical eyes.
• Recognize China’s huge economic growth and the impact it has on the United States.
• Check data and information accuracy using sound methodologies.
• Become a more informed and engaged citizen by challenging your own preconceptions and biases.

Thank you for reading this article “Paul Krugman Masterclass Review.” If you have any concerns, questions, or suggestions regarding this article, please write them in the comment section below. And don’t be hesitant about passing on this piece of knowledge to others.

Frequently Asked Questions