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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Narrative Economics by Yale University

4.8
stars
840 ratings

About the Course

Dear Potential Learner, Please take some time to read through this note before deciding to enroll. This course, Narrative Economics, is relatively short and proposes a simple concept: we need to incorporate the contagion of narratives into our economic theory. You can think of narratives as stories that shape public beliefs, which in turn influence our decision making. Understanding how people arrived at certain decisions in the past can aid our understanding of the economy today and improve our forecasts of the future. Popular thinking heavily influences our answers to questions such as how much to invest, how much to spend or save, whether to go to college or take a certain job, and many more. Narrative economics is the study of the viral spread of popular narratives that affect economic behavior. I believe incorporating these ideas into our research must be done both to improve our ability to anticipate and prepare for economic events and help us structure economic institutions and policy. Until we better incorporate it into our methods of analysis and forecasting, we remain blind to a very real, very palpable, very important mechanism for economic change. Even in the dawning age of the Internet and artificial intelligence, so long as people remain ultimately in control, human narratives will matter. Maybe they will especially matter as the new technology exploits human weaknesses and creates new venues for narrative contagion. If we do not understand the epidemics of popular narratives, we cannot fully understand changes in the economy and in economic behavior. The course is broken into 4 modules: Part I introduces basic concepts and demonstrates how popular stories change over time to affect economic outcomes, including recessions, depressions and inequality as well as effective inspiration and growth.. These stories can be observed from diverse sources such as politics, the media, or even popular songs. Part II seeks to answer why some stories go viral, while others are quickly forgotten, by defining our narrative theory more firmly. This module enumerates and explores a list of seven propositions to help discipline any analysis of economic narratives. Part III examines nine perennial narratives that have proved their ability to influence important economic decisions. They include narratives regarding artificial intelligence, stock market bubbles, and job insecurity. Part IV looks to the future and highlights the opportunities for consilience in Narrative Economics. We share some thoughts about where narratives are taking us at this point in history and what kind of future research could improve our understanding of them. This course offers only the beginnings of a new idea and a few suggestions for how it could be used by economists and financial professionals. The tone is not prescriptive or authoritative, as perhaps my Coursera course, Financial Markets, is in places. It represents the beginning of the journey (epidemic). This course is my way of floating the “germ” of this idea out into the broader community of not only professionals but of anyone who is interested in discovering how and why things become “important” to us as a society. I hope some of you will become infected by this idea, mutate it, spread it, and advance it. The beginning of the journey is the easy part. The challenge will come in taking these concepts to the next level. We have the tools to incorporate narratives into our research and the moral obligation to act; only the work remains. - Robert J. Shiller...

Top reviews

AV

Jun 7, 2023

A very insightful and approachable course about the effects of human biases over the economic landscape and how social trends tend to leave a permanent mark on history and exact sciences like finance.

LA

Mar 11, 2024

I really enjoyed this course, it opened my eyes so much and I might keep going even though I only took this course out of fun, I was very interested in this topic. lucky me it Was interesting! Thanks

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76 - 100 of 236 Reviews for Narrative Economics

By Niloufar A

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May 20, 2024

professor shiller is truly one of the Bests! I really enjoy learning from him as he has an unique and lovely way to explain things.

By Tejhaswinni .

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May 6, 2025

Prof. Robert Shiller's course was very engaging and interesting..thanks to him I could complete this informative memorable course.

By Rajrupa S

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Jun 23, 2023

I just loved the course, it is extremely insightful and really pushes you ti see major economic events through a new lenses

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By Emily W

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Sep 13, 2023

Absolutely fascinating and delightful. Very engaging lessons, excellent resources, and highly effected quizzes and tests.

By Fernando F

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Feb 22, 2025

Shiller is an absolutely wonderful professor, enjoy this thrilling ride through the world of psychology and finance!

By Machuk W L

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Jul 13, 2025

It has taught me a very different view of the world and its mechanism. I will work and give the best to mankind.

By Nakul S

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Jan 16, 2024

This was an interesting course to learn the basics of what factors influence the narratives shaping our world.

By Victor B

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Jan 15, 2025

i love Professor J .Shriller , his way to explain things makes it esier to understand every narative examples

By sia b

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Jul 11, 2023

Completely delightful, informative and inspiring! I'd pay to see a lecture of his in-person, when possible.

By Deleted A

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May 9, 2023

Interesting point of view of the influence of some ideas, social movements and tendency in the economy

By Kaushik P

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Jun 24, 2023

Excellent course. Articulates efficiently the big picture scenarios that influence everyday economics.

By William B

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Jan 8, 2025

Great course, essential for understanding the importance of popular sentiment as regards the economy.

By Eileen D

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Jun 23, 2024

Robert Shiller is one of the leading economists in the United States. I really enjoyed this course.

By Greg L

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Jun 2, 2023

Another really neat informative class on Finance from Robert Shiller! glad I took the time to do it

By Adenike A

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Dec 15, 2024

Prof Shiller did a great job, he expanded my mind and made me consult other sources to learn more.

By Marc j C

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May 15, 2023

Great course. Very related to the stock market, explains a lot a reasons why stocks soar and fall.

By Chinazam I

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Aug 31, 2024

This was a very informative course which has ended being useful to me and I work as a journalist.

By Michael R

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Jul 3, 2023

Exceptional course. While a simple theory, it provided far more in-depth content than I imagined.

By Dicky A

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Mar 19, 2025

as a beginner in coursera, this course fits my expectations in learning economics qualitatively.

By Johnny S

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Apr 22, 2023

I am fan of mr. Shiller's courses. You can learn tremendous things in his courses. Thanks a lot.

By Habeeb A F

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Oct 5, 2023

It was enlightening to learn how "Narrative Economics" have been driving Consumer Behaviour !

By Adam L

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Aug 13, 2023

I loved it so much! It is not talked about enough, this should be its own narrative epidemic.

By Nada A

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Nov 8, 2023

I learnt a lot in this class and it pertains to what's going on in the world now. Thank you

By Patrick W

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Dec 12, 2024

This course was extremely informative and really got me thinking about almost everything.

By Rob W

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Apr 13, 2023

An interesting, short, introductory course to Narrative Economics that includes mermaids.