"The program does not deify economics, but tells us how to use economics in life" "People who don't understand economics can actually understand it, I have always felt that economics is very powerful, but it has nothing to do with daily life, and now I have found that economics can solve problems in life"...... In the comment area of the documentary "The Economics of Everything", many viewers lamented that their horizons were opened up by economics.
"The Economics of Everything" is a new blockbuster work launched by Youku Documentary Channel in 2024, and it is also an innovative attempt by Youku in the field of documentaries. The documentary starts from the perspective of "economics" and uses "urban roaming" as the carrier, aiming to reveal the economic logic hidden in daily life and driving the operation of social economy. The program was co-produced and planned by economist Xue Zhaofeng, and was launched on April 17.
Break the stereotypes of the public
In The Economics of Everything, Xue Zhaofeng shuttles between cities, interviewing people of different ages, identities, and industries, deconstructing the confusion of reality from the perspective of economics, and providing the public with rational economic cognition and thinking logic. This is also the first time that Xue Zhaofeng has delved into the field of documentaries as a creator, he said, "The Economics of Everything is not very entertaining, but the themes we selected have a wide audience and are universal, and I believe there will always be people who like to watch it." ”
The program focuses on current hot topics, such as Yiwu live broadcast entrepreneurship, Beijing artificial intelligence, Hengdian short drama outlet, Dali digital nomad, Dongguan tide toy economy...... There are not only the freedom of young people yearning for poetry and distant places, but also the opportunities of current AI technology and innovative industries.
"From the earliest big data to the current artificial intelligence, live broadcast has changed from horizontal to vertical...... In recent years, the so-called 'tuyere' has become very fast, but the important decision-making points, the factors that need to be weighed, and the entanglement of people are long-lasting. In the end, economics is a study of human nature -- what do you want? How can you get what you want? What changes is the environment and the outlet, but what I really care about is 'unchanged'. ”
Xue Zhaofeng bluntly said that he hopes to break the public's stereotype of economics through this documentary - economics is not just mathematics, it is closely related to everyone's life and even life decisions. "The Economics of Everything strives to show universal and personal issues in real scenes through different characters and different stories, so that everyone can be inspired. Of course, our starting point is not to make everyone have to use economics to solve any problems, and changing perceptions is as important as application. ”
The core focus has always been on "people"
Xue Zhaofeng said that the reason why the program chose the five cities of Yiwu, Beijing, Hengdian, Dali and Dongguan is more from the perspective of "people", and the core focus of "The Economics of Everything" is always "people". "No matter which city or industry we choose, we are all about putting 'people' in the big economic environment and telling their stories. The team will first consider what people are more concerned about, and then find the right ordinary person. Because they didn't want to choose objects with high media exposure, the early team spent a lot of energy on selecting people. ”
The first episode of the program came to Yiwu, a "low-cost entrepreneurial paradise", and Xue Zhaofeng visited a post-90s couple who started a live broadcast business. Ah Tian and Xiaohao quit their high-paying jobs with a monthly salary of 50,000 yuan and aspired to earn 1 million yuan in Yiwu, but the cruel reality is that they, like the vast majority of entrepreneurs, only earn 200 yuan a day. After the show was broadcast, it #为什么普通人感觉赚钱难 ##月薪5万夫妻裸辞义乌创业日入200#等相关话题随即登上微博热搜, which aroused heated discussions among netizens.
"What is a 'low-cost start-up'? Cost is the biggest price to give up. You give up your job in a first-tier city, which is the main cost of starting a business. "Seriousness also has a cost, and the process is efficiency. "Entrepreneurs always think that they are the helmsmen of navigation, but in fact, ships are made by the sea, and the success or failure of entrepreneurship is determined by the market. "In the process of starting a business, the judgment of the entrepreneur is very important and even decisive. As an observer and recorder, Xue Zhaofeng gave reasonable advice to help them withdraw from the complicated predicament. At the same time, he used the story in the film to explain to the audience the economic principles such as cost efficiency, entrepreneurial elements, business rules, and track dilemmas.
Follow-up plans
"The Economics of All Things" starts from the individual and enters the public life, closely linking the principles of economics with urban life from a unique perspective and vivid examples, opening a new window for the audience to gain insight into the laws of the world.
In Xue Zhaofeng's view, economics is essentially a study of ordinary people, but to discover economic laws and economic relations from ordinary stories, it requires "sharp eyes". "Only by going deep into life can we discover the vivid stories that make sense and are unexpected. ”
Talking about the follow-up plan, he said frankly that he will make a summary and review based on the audience's feedback, and then make plans, "It depends on the audience's feedback, what can be done better on the existing resources, and then decide whether to do a few more seasons." Making a show is like writing an article, the better the article, the more it will be changed. It's worth doing, and I hope to continue it. As for whether it will become a hit, or how to make it a hit, I won't think too much. What I want to do is always to let everyone feel the charm of economics, so that economics can get out of books and really 'live'. ”
Part of the picture: Youku documentary's official Weibo
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