The story thus far…

 

“The Economic Minute was launched on 6 June 2020 and there were 107 episodes from then until the end of the year, mainly in Afrikaans. This year I kicked off on 4 January and up to now there have been 125 episodes in Afrikaans and 115 in English.

 

“The material has been played 21 265 times. In June, I took a few weeks off from the podcast to reassess how to best share my love for economics. Thanks to everyone for listening.”

 

- Prof Waldo Krugell

 

Search for Die Ekonomie Minuut/The Economic Minute on any podcast-sharing platform and enjoy a brave new, accessible economic world.

 

But, according to Prof Waldo Krugell from the School of Economics, it takes but a jiffy to wrap your head around the subject’s terrifying terminology. It takes an Economic Minute (Die Ekonomie Minuut).

 

eish! took a minute to ask Waldo about The Economic Minute podcast project.

 

Can you tell us more about your inspiration behind the project?

People are confronted with economic news every day. They’ll hear on the radio that the index of all shares is on the up or that the rand to dollar exchange rate is stronger or weaker, but so often it is without any context or background.

 

All that they’ll hear is that things are changing, but nobody explains why. Those are things that you will understand better if you study economics.

 

However, as an economics professor, I have a relatively small audience. Last year when the lockdown hit, I lost that audience as well! The Economic Minute was a result thereof. Initially I made it with my students in mind, although I also wanted to reach a larger audience.

 

Why did you decide to use a podcast as the medium of instruction?

I chose the audio format because I suspect that my students aren’t that keen on reading and that I’ll be able to reach more of them through a podcast. In South Africa we aren’t big podcast listeners, so I marketed it under the banner of ECON101 on Facebook.

 

Where can you listen to The Economic Minute?

You can listen to The Economic Minute on almost any podcast service like Apple, Google, Spotify and more. It is hosted by Anchor. There are daily episodes in Afrikaans and English, although I am taking a short break at the moment.

 

What are your future plans for the podcast?

I would like to make the podcast part of a larger endeavour on social media. I would like to keep The Economic Minute short and sweet, but I also want to supplement it with material and resources on my blog and a little more video material. I would also like local radio stations to use its content.

Let’s take a minute

From “bull markets” to “bear markets”, “gross domestic product” to “elasticity of demand”, “oligopoly” to “stagflation”, the world of economics can sound as inaccessible as the clank of a castle’s closing portcullis.

Prof Waldo Krugell loves nothing more than to share his passion for economics.