Books in French are on www.livres-cinema.info
Filmonomics
Economists Discuss the Silver Screen
Edited by André de Palma and Luc Leruth
(0 vote)Average rating:
| 0 | rating |  = We can do without |
| 0 | rating |  = Good book |
| 0 | rating |  = Excellent book |
| 0 | rating |  = Unique / a reference |
Your rating: -
Book Presentation:
What could movies as diverse as The Last Samurai, Cléo from 5 to 7, or Dr. Strangelove have in common? Filmonomics has a simple yet intriguing answer: economics as the main driving force of the plot or as the main motivation of the characters’ actions.
This book analyses how movie makers use economic and financial motives in their plots or to build their characters. Have they done it in line with economic theory? Or are they proposing a new angle, a new perspective, that economists should take note of? The authors here do not discuss wages in the film industry or the economics of movies. What interests them is the economic motivations underpinning the behaviour of fictional characters in their favourite films. They argue that credible movie characters can behave in irrational ways, and movie makers occasionally introduce new ideas that economists should take note of.
A unique contribution, this book will be of interest to readers eager to discover what economists have to say about films and film directors. It will be indispensable for students and researchers of economics, media studies, film studies, and cultural studies.
About the authors:
André de Palma holds a PhD in Physics (supervised by Nobel Laureate I. Prigogine) from the Free University of Brussels and a PhD in Economics from the University of Burgundy. He has taught in the following institutions: Queen’s University, Canada; Northwestern University, USA; University of Geneva, Switzerland; and Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) Paris Saclay, France. He is an honorary member of the Institut Universitaire de France and the Association française d’économie des transports. He is a founding member of the international association of Transport Economics. He is now Emeritus Chair Professor at CY Cergy-Paris University and a visiting researcher at Strasbourg and Laval, Canada Universities, and an instructor at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. He specializes in transportation economics, behavioural economics, industrial organization, and risk. He has also published outside the field of economics, including ‘L’addiction rationnelle dans une nouvelle de Stefan Zweig’ and ‘Ode à l’erreur,’ in 2021 (Quand la littérature nous est contée, La lettre volée, Edition de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles).Luc Leruth is an associate researcher at the University of Clermont-Auvergne, France. He has an M.Sc. in Mathematics and an M.A. and a PhD in Economics. A former International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff member, he has led missions in numerous countries, was the head of the Fiscal Transparency Unit, secretary of the G10, and director of three Regional Technical Assistance Centers. He has also pursued an academic career, holding teaching positions at the Free University Brussels, the University of Liège, and the University of Essex. He was a member of Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE) and has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has also pursued a literary career. His first novel, La 4ème Note, was published in August 2001, translated into Portuguese and Russian. It was the best-selling first novel at Gallimard for 2001 and a finalist of the Prince of Monaco “Best Young Author” biennial Award. His second novel, La Machine Magique, was also published in the Collection Blanche, Gallimard (2004). In collaboration with Jean Drèze, he is the author of Rumble in a Village (2020). His first play Le Daguerréotypiste malgré lui was published in 2022.
Press Reviews:
"Much research analyzes the economics of films and of the movie industry. By comparison, little exists about economics (and related social sciences) in films – how the characters make choices, how they interact, and the happy or tragic outcomes of their actions. This book fills that vacuum. Read it, then view (or re-view) the films discussed here, and you will acquire an amazing new and rich way of watching films and thinking about them."
Avinash Dixit, Sherrerd University Professor Emeritus, Princeton University
"Very well documented, this work will delight a wide audience intrigued by the economic themes conveyed by the films. I thank the authors for devoting an entire chapter to our "Farinelli", under the particular gaze of the economy of the castratii. Extremely interesting!"
Gérard Corbiau, Film Director (Farinelli)
"Filmonomics is not only a fun book to read for movie lovers and social scientists. By highlighting the broad economic aspects present in famous movies, the authors make us rethink their content and learn some economics along the way."
Gerard Roland, E. Morris Cox Distinguished Professor of Economics and Professor of Political science, University of California Berkeley.
"Economics explains (almost) everything. And everything is in films. This is a wonderfully eclectic set of short essays by a wide swathe of authors from different backgrounds. It is a joy to open up and engage the deeper thoughts that lie behind iconic, and some less known, and some rather obscure movies."
Simon P. Anderson, Commonwealth Professor of Economics, University of Virginia
"Much research analyzes the economics of films and of the movie industry. By comparison, little exists about economics (and related social sciences) in films – how the characters make choices, how they interact, and the happy or tragic outcomes of their actions. This book fills that vacuum. Read it, then view (or re-view) the films discussed here, and you will acquire an amazing new and rich way of watching films and thinking about them."
Avinash Dixit, Sherrerd University Professor Emeritus, Princeton University
"Very well documented, this work will delight a wide audience intrigued by the economic themes conveyed by the films. I thank the authors for devoting an entire chapter to our Farinelli under the particular gaze of the economy of the castrati. Extremely interesting!"
Gérard Corbiau, Film Director (Farinelli)
"Filmonomics is not only a fun book to read for movie lovers and social scientists. By highlighting the broad economic aspects present in famous movies, the authors make us rethink their content and learn some economics along the way."
Gerard Roland, E. Morris Cox Distinguished Professor of Economics and Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley
"Economics explains (almost) everything. And everything is in films. This is a wonderfully eclectic set of short essays by a wide swathe of authors from different backgrounds. It is a joy to open up and engage the deeper thoughts that lie behind iconic, and some less known, and some rather obscure movies."
Simon P. Anderson, Commonwealth Professor of Economics, University of Virginia
See the publisher website: Routledge
> On a related topic:
Screenwriting for Micro-Budget Films (2021)
Tips, Tricks and Hacks for Reverse Engineering Your Screenplay
Subject: Technique > Scriptwriting
Television's Second Golden Age (2025)
Politics and International Relations in the Era of HBO and Streaming TV
Subject: Economics
Global Development of Asian Cinema in the Film Industry (2025)
Dir. Changsong Wang, Cheng Fei Yong and Rustono Farady Marta
Subject: Economics
Capturing Big Ideas for Less in Feature Film (2025)
How a Limited Environment Can Serve Substantial Themes
Subject: Economics
Micro-Budget Methods of Cinematic Storytelling (2025)
A Practical Guide to Making Narrative Media with Minimal Means
by Jake Mahaffy
Subject: Economics
Hollywood Dealmaking (2025)
Negotiating Rights and Talent Agreements for Film, TV, and Digital Media
by Dina Appleton and Daniel Yankelevits
Subject: Economics
Back
