Artifacts of Everyday Economics

These are examples of economic representations in diverse areas and genres of "popular culture."

ARTIFACTS OF EVERYDAY ECONOMICS

Fairytales
Hans Christian Andersen, "The Money-Box"
Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, “Rumpelstiltskin”
Johnny Bruce Grinols, “The Cold and the Gold”

Stories
Joseph Conrad, “An Outpost of Progress”
F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”
Mark Twain, “The £1,000,000 Pound Bank-Note”

Poetry
Michael O’Connor, “Reaganomics Comes to Pittsburgh”
Brad Evans, “Out in the Cold”
Carl Sandburg, “Mill-Doors”

Cartoons
Scott Adams, “Dilbert”
Rick Flores, “Ricardo’s View”
Phil Porter, “A Square Deal for All”

Art
Will Barnett, “Factory District”
Peter Bruegel the Elder, “Elck” (Everyman)
Hans Haacke, “Global Marketing”

Movies
Modern Times
Roger & Me
The Full Monty

Documentaries
Harlan County
The Money Lender$: Update 2000
The Money Story

Fables
Aesop, "The Ants and the Grasshopper"
Ambrose Bierce, "How Leisure Came"
Jean de La Fontaine, "The Miser Who Lost His Treasure"

Children's Books
Margaret Hall, Credit Cards and Checks
Kerry Milliron and Richard Waldrep, Casual Friday Paper Doll Book
David M. Schwartz and Steven Kellogg, If You Made a Million




Novels

Daniel Defoe, The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
Howard Fast, The Immigrants
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Web Sites
http://www.oneworld.org/guides/TNCs/index.html (Oneworld Guide to Transnational Corporations)
http://www.corpwatch.org/ (CorpWatch)
http://www.eskimo.com/~rarnold/ (Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise)

Television
"Lou Dobbs Moneyline"
"The Next Wave"
"Working"

Radio
“Labor Express”

“MarketWatch”
“Sound Money”

Print
Business Week

Dollars and Sense
Wall Street Journal

Theater
Moliere (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin), "The Miser"
William Shakespeare, "The Merchant of Venice"
Sophie Treadwell, "Machinal"

Non-Fiction
Hernando de Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else
Doug Henwood, Wall Street: How It Works and for Whom
Robert Linhart, The Assembly Line

Computer Games
Railroad Tycoon 2: The Second Century
Theme Park
Age of Empires

Photography
Susan Neville, Twilight in Arcadia
Sebastião Salgado, Workers
Ben Shahn, “The Bower, New York City, ca. 1933”

THE MUSIC OF EVERYDAY ECONOMICS

Soul/Motown
Ray Charles, “Busted”

Marvin Gaye, “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)”

Smoky Robinson and the Miracles, “Money (That’s What I Want)”


Musicals

Richard Aldler and Jerry Ross, “Seven-and-a-Half Cents”

Bertolt Brecht and Han Eisler, “The Love Market”

Fred Ebb and John Kander, “Money”

Folk/Rock

Billy Bragg, “Northern Industrial Town”

Ani Difranco, “The Million You Never Made”

Wallflowers, “Somebody Else’s Money”


Latin

Ricardo Arjona, “Millonario de Luz”
Juan Luis Guerra y 4.40, “El Costo de la Vida”
Vico C, “La Recta Final”

Indie Rock

Quasi, “The Happy Prole”
Radiohead, “Dollars and Cents”
Sonic Youth, “The Sprawl”

Hip-Hop

Eminem, “If I Had”
Juvenile, “Rich Niggaz”
Notorious B.I.G., “Mo Money, Mo Problems”

Country –Western

Alabama, “One More Time Around”
Garth Brooks, “Alabama Clay”
Aaron Tippin, “Working Man’s Ph.D.”



Rap
The Coup, “The Repo Man Sings for You”
Ice Cube, “A Bird in the Hand”
EPMD, “Bu$ine$$ Is Bu$ine$$”

Blues
John Lee Hooker, “I Need Some Money”
B. B. King, “Recession Blues”
Bessie Smith, “Poor Man’s Blues”

Punk

Bad Brains, “Pay to Cum”
The Clash, “Lost in the Supermarket”
Dead Kennedys, “Kepone Factory”

Pop

Bill Joel, “Easy Money”
Madonna, “Material Girl”
Sting, “We Work the Black Seam”

Folk

Bruce Cockburn, “Mighty Trucks of Midnight”
Joe Glazer, “Automation”
Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson, “Last Shift”

Rock

Dire Straits, “Money for Nothing”
Kinks, “Working at the Factory”
Bruce Springsteen, “My Hometown”

Miscellaneous

Bang on a Can, Industry
Nations on Fire et al., Land of Greed…World of Need
OJays et al., Wall Street’s Greatest Hits

 

Copyright © 2002 David F. Ruccio, All Rights Reserved
Last Modified 20 February, 2003