Contemporary Film and Economics

Samuel R. Staley is an urban economist and director of the DeVoe L. Moore Center in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Florida State University, USA. He is also a research fellow with the Independent Institute in Oakland, California as well as a public policy analyst, film critic, and award-winning novelist.

• Chapter 1. The Economics in Film, Chapter 2. A Passage to Choice, Chapter 3. The Economics of Greed, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, Chapter 4. The Labor Market Costs of Crime, Pride, and Prejudice, Chapter 5. Financing the Housing Crisis and the Great Recession, Chapter 6. The Nature and Causes of Wealth in Film, Chapter 7. Government Without Romance, Chapter 8. Conclusion: The Economics Behind the Story

"Contemporary Film and Economics takes readers from what they see and hear in movies to what they really need to know about economics and sound decision making. Staley starts in Hollywood and then digs deep into the world of economics, covering important topics such as growth, development, entrepreneurship, and political decision making, moving the reader from the silver screen to the everyday choices that produce wealth and prosperity.", Joe Calhoun, Ph.D., Director, Stavros Center for Economic Education, Florida State University"As a teacher of economics, I sometimes struggle to figure out how to get students to understand the stories behind the theories. As a producer, I sometimes struggle to get filmmakers to think about how to be economically realistic in the stories they tell. Staley’s Contemporary Film and Economics is a virtual blueprint for achieving both and reminds us that at the end of the day, economics is simply a set of theories that help us to better understand why any character- real or fictional- makes the decisions they do.", Jason Stephens, a film producer, entrepreneur, and Professor of Instruction at Columbia College Chicago, USA