50,000 views for our "Economics is Fun" videos

Among the most fun things I did this year was the series of short videos about economics.  My book Economics Made Simple was published in January, so I decided to upload some YouTube videos to put across its basic ideas in a snappy way, taking only about 3 minutes for each. They were not really scripted, except that they were based on the book.

Xander stepped in, and there were just two of us.  I was presenter and he handled cameras, lights, sound, filming, cutting, editing and graphics.  We recorded them over a three-week period, doing several per day.  I picked up whatever was to hand at the last minute to use as a prop. For the first one I collected the office bell on the way up to the mezzanine overlooking the street, and rang the bell for each error.  We deliberately tried to keep them user-friendly and with an amateur look to them, instead of a slick finish. I wore a different T-shirt for each of the 20 videos.

The series took off well, and we advertised them on Guido's site to keep up the momentum.  The total views now exceed 50,000, and we've had many invitations to give talks to schools from teachers who've seen them.  We called the series "Economics is Fun," and it was.  It's much better than calling it "the dismal science."