Kyla Scanlon on Communicating Economic Ideas through Social Media | Conversations with Tyler

‪@KylaScanlon‬ has made it her personal mission to bring economics education to a larger audience through social media. She publishes daily content across TikTok, YouTube, Substack, LinkedIn and more, explaining what is happening in the economy and why it is happening. Tyler calls her first book In This Economy? How Money & Markets Really Work a “good and bracing shock to those who have trained their memories on some weighted average of the more distant past.”

Tyler and Kyla dive into the modern state of economics education and a whole range of topics like if fantasy world building can help you understand economics, what she learned trading options at 16, why she opted for a state school over the Ivy League, lessons from selling 38 cars over summer break, introversion as an ingredient for social media success, if she believes in any conspiracy theories, Instagram scrolling vs TikTok scrolling, the decline of print culture, why people are seeking out cults, modern nihilism, how perspective can help with optimism, the death of celebrity and the rise of influencers, why econ education has gone backward, improving mainstream media, YIMBYism and real estate, nuclear pragmatism versus utopian geothermalists, investing advice for young people, why she thinks about the Great Depression more than Rome, creating the next Free to Choose, and more.

Recorded July 8th, 2024

Transcript and links: https://conversationswithtyler.com/ep...

Stay connected:
Follow us on X, IG, and Facebook: @cowenconvos
  / cowenconvos  
  / cowenconvos  
  / cowenconvos  

Join us on Discord:   / discord  

https://conversationswithtyler.com

https://mercatus.org

Photo Credit: Rachel Woolf

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Reading many books
00:02:53 - Becoming an options trader at age 16
00:04:45 - Attending a state school instead of Ivy League
00:10:23 - Selling cars and what she learned from it
00:12:15 - Introversion as an ingredient for social media success
00:17:41 - The economics young people are learning from TikTok
00:20:28 - Tiktok vs. Instagram Reels
00:26:56 - Cults
00:32:00 - Celebrity culture and influencers
00:37:00 - The state of economics education
00:40:20 - Improving mainstream media
00:45:40 - YIMBYism and real estate market dynamics