Barry's Economics

Épisodes

• Nobody succeeds alone - here's what they're not telling you - Barry's Economics 20.07.2026 31min

  This is the final part of my conversation with Gary Stevenson, recorded before his documentary came out, and it's the most personal of the three episodes. We talk about why meritocracy is a myth, why success is mostly survivorship bias, and why Gary treats fame and politics as a game (his words, not mine, and he's honest about what that's covering for).He also breaks down Jeff Bezos's "why are nurses paying taxes" clip and explains the oldest trick in the book: bribing you with your own money.And he gives me my 100,000 subscriber play button, which meant more than I can easily say. This channel exists because of Gary's callout in May, and because of the community around it. This episode is about that community, and how you can be part of it, whether that's making videos, joining a party, talking to your friends and family, or just sharing the ideas in your own words.NB: The full uncut conversation is on my PatreonI’m Barry Ferns, a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.No sponsors, ever.... this channel is funded by viewers:▶ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barryseconomics▶ Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://paypal.me/barryseconomicsThis channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://paypal.me/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsSubscribe or follow for future episodes!More about me: https://barryferns.co.uk/Mailing List Sign-up: https://tr.ee/0BKMVwYou can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/barryseconomics.bsky.socialReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first! His channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• The Trick The Rich Play On The Poor - Barry's Economics 13.07.2026 35min

  Part 2 of my Conversation with Gary Stevenson - the economist who quit a trading job that made him millions and has spent the years since campaigning for a wealth tax, and this week his documentary "How to Get Filthy Rich" aired on Channel 4, Wednesday 8th July at 9pm.Gary came in for a two and a half hour conversation, and this is the second of three episodes we've cut from it. "How to Get Filthy Rich" aired Wednesday 8th July, 9pm, Channel 4.I’m Barry Ferns – a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://paypal.me/barryseconomicshttps://patreon.com/BarrysEconomics?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink / barryseconomics Follow and leave a review if you enjoyed this episode!More about me: https://barryferns.co.uk/Mailing List Sign-up: https://tr.ee/0BKMVwYou can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/barryseconomicsReddit: / barryferns
• The Channel 4 Documentary Everyone's About to Watch - Barry's Economics 08.07.2026 30min

  Gary Stevenson quit a trading job that made him millions and has spent the years since campaigning for a wealth tax, and this week his documentary "How to Get Filthy Rich" airs on Channel 4, Wednesday 8th July at 9pm.Gary came in for a two and a half hour conversation, and this is the first of three episodes we've cut from it. We talk about the billionaire he interviewed who's never once walked in the park his flat overlooks, what trading floors actually do to the people inside them, and why he thinks cynicism functions as a tax on ordinary people. How to Get Filthy Rich airs Wednesday 8th July, 9pm, Channel 4.I’m Barry Ferns – a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://paypal.me/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review if you enjoyed this episode!More about me: https://barryferns.co.uk/Mailing List Sign-up: https://tr.ee/0BKMVwYou can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/barryseconomics.bsky.socialReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first! His channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• The Psychological Trick That Keeps you Obedient - Barry's Economics 30.06.2026 33min

  Why do poorer people love Period Dramas like Downton Abbey, that adore the very Privileged aristocracies that kept their great-grandparents in poverty? Why do we worship Billionaires despite their clear exploitative behaviours?This is the psychology of how shows about the British class system became comfort viewing for the people it should enrage. And how we fall in love with the Myths of the Super Rich today.I love Downton Abbey too. That's the problem. In this video I use John Jost's System Justification Theory and Robert Sapolsky's research on the neurobiology of inequality to explain why people at the bottom of a hierarchy so often defend it, and why a beautiful house full of deferential servants works less like escapism and more like an anaesthetic.We get into why "poor but happy" stories make inequality feel fair, how years of low status physically rewire the brain and leave you more risk-averse and more attached to whatever stability exists, and the one hopeful catch: the moment you can name what a story is doing to you, it starts to lose its power. You don't haveto stop watching Downton. Just watch it the way a doctor watches a cigarette advert.Sources & further reading:Jost & Kay (2003), "Complementary Justice", J. Personality & Social PsychologyJost & Hunyady (2002), "The Palliative Function of Ideology"Jost (2019), A Theory of System Justification, Harvard University PressSapolsky (1990), "Adrenocortical Function, Social Rank, and Personality Among Wild Baboons"Friestad & Wright (1994), "The Persuasion Knowledge Model"I’m Barry Ferns, a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsIf you enjoyed the episode, leave a review and follow for future episodesMailing List: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/barryseconomics.bsky.socialReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first! His channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here: https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• Nigel Farage Has Already Won (And Nobody Noticed) - Barry's Economics 22.06.2026 28min

  Everyone is still trying to take Nigel Farage down... and every attack makes himstronger. Here's the uncomfortable truth: If you attack him: he's already won, and almost nobody hasnoticed why.Farage isn't the disease. He's the symptom. In this video I show that the entire Political strategy of beating him has failed for decades because he isn't competing in the market for policies, not at all... he's competing in the acknowledgement market, and that's a market the mainstream parties abandoned 45 years ago.Using Seligman and Maier's research on learned helplessness, the real history ofrising inequality since 1979, and a bit of economics about why some demand isinelastic, I lay out how the gap he's filling was built.... by governments of bothparties.... and why the only thing that actually shuts him down isn't attacking theman. It's closing the gap that created him.This isn't a defence of Nigel Farage. It's an argument that the way we fight him is handing him the win.No sponsors, ever.... this channel is funded by viewers:▶ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barryseconomics▶ Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://paypal.me/barryseconomicsSources & further reading:Maier & Seligman (2016), "Learned Helplessness at Fifty", Psychological ReviewHope & Limberg (2020), "The Economic Consequences of Major Tax Cuts for the Rich", LSEIMF Staff Discussion Note (2015), "Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality"Römer (2022), "Poverty, Inequality Statistics and Knowledge Politics Under Thatcher"Trussell Trust / House of Commons Library (2025), food bank statisticsI’m Barry Ferns – a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://paypal.me/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review if you enjoyed the episode!Mailing list sign-up: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/barryseconomics.bsky.socialReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first! His channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• An Earl Stole The Sandwich. The Rich Still Use The Trick - Barry's Economics 15.06.2026 12min

  In 1762, the Earl of Sandwich asked for meat between two slices of bread. Did he invent the Sandwich? Maybe Not - As People had been doing this for centuries. But he had power, prestige, and profile, so he got to "name" it.Economics works exactly the same way."Job Creators." "GDP growth." "Trickle-down." These aren't neutral terms but are the stories written by people with naming rights. Filmed in Sandwich, Kent. Yes, really.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://paypal.me/barryseconomicsIf you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first! His channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• The Real Reason For The Zombie Boom? Follow The Money - Barry's Economics 08.06.2026 37min

  For seventy years, the world barely made zombie films. Then, right around the turn of the century, that changed, and we haven't stopped since. The biggest Franchises of all time: The Walking Dead. The Last of Us. Game of Thrones. World War Z. 28 Days Later. Why now? Why all at once?This isn't a video about horror - it's why millions of people, with no coordination between them, started picturing the exact same thing at the exact same moment in history.Featuring the behavioural science of George Lakoff, Richard Thaler, Daniel Kahneman and Walter Mischel's famous marshmallow test, plus design ethicist Tristan Harris on "the race to the bottom of the brainstem," and the Facebook founder who went on the record about exactly what these apps were built to do to you.Stick around to the end. I promised hope, and unlike most zombie films, this one actually has survivors.I’m Barry Ferns – a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review if you enjoyed the episode!Mailing List: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/barryseconomics.bsky.socialReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first! His channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• What Banksy Shows Us About Power - Barry's Economics 01.06.2026 23min

  Filmed in front of over 20 original Banksy works across London and Bristol.This is a video about what Banksy keeps showing us, how he actually works, and why (after all this time) he's still relevant and properly revolutionary.And the answer isn't actually "because his prints sell for a lot." In fact it's almost the opposite of that.Most people know Banksy as a street artist. This video is about what he's actually doing. What he keeps pointing at. Why the establishment can't touch him, and why that fact alone tells you something important about how power and money really work.Also - For the Banksy Tour Guide that helped me around Bristol - The Lovely Luke Sergent - go to https://blackbeard2banksy.com/ to book a tour from himREFERENCES:ELINOR OSTROM:https://www.actu-environnement.com/media/pdf/ostrom_1990.pdfGARRETT HARDINhttps://math.uchicago.edu/~shmuel/Modeling/Hardin,%20Tragedy%20of%20the%20Commons.pdfhttps://archive.org/details/makingofenglishw0000thom_p8v7Gerald Marwel and Ruth Ames Social Experiement:"Economists free ride, does anyone else?: Experiments on the provision of public goods"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/004727278190013X"Does Studying Economics Inhibit Cooperation" Study:https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fjep.7.2.159I’m Barry Ferns – a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review for future episodes!Mailing list: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/barryseconomics.bsky.socialReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first! His channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• Elon Musk: A Predictable Tragedy - Barry's Economics 26.05.2026 34min

  Elon Musk. Tesla. Spacex. Cybertrucks. Solar Power... not your normal supervillain origin story. But the neuroscience explains everything.Do you remember when we all kind of liked Elon Musk?Electric cars. Space travel. Solar panels. He felt like the closest thing we had to a real-life Tony Stark.And now he's... this.Nobody's asking the right question. Not "what did he do?" but "what happened to him?" Because there's a scientific answer. And the unsettling part isn't what it says about Elon Musk. It's what it says about everyone with that much power.Fifty years of peer-reviewed research on power, wealth and the brain from Columbia, Berkeley and McMaster University, shows that power isn't a metaphor for corruption. It's a corruption toxin. It does measurable damage to specific neural pathways. This is the psychology of billionaires. This is the neuroscience of wealth and power. And this is why Elon Musk was always going to become this.Galinsky et al. (2006) :Power and Perspectives Not Taken, Psychological ScienceSukhvinder Obhi: Power and neural mirrorin, McMaster UniversityPaul Piff: Wealth, empathy and the dose-response relationship, UC BerkeleyRoger Fisher: Preventing Nuclear War, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1981I’m Barry Ferns – a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review if you enjoyed the episode!Mailing list sign-up: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/barryseconomics.bsky.socialReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first! His channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• The Wealth Tax Debate Is A Trap - Barry's Economics 18.05.2026 11min

  The Wealth Tax Debate Rages OnBack and ForthUp and DownBut what does it miss?And Why Is It Always so Circular and Never Ending?I’m Barry Ferns, a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review if you've enjoyed the episode!Mailing List: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsBlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/barryseconomics.bsky.socialReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first – his channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• Change Is Possible Here's How - Barry's Economics 05.05.2026 19min

  This is the only comedian in the world who has actually changed tax law. (as far as I know)Not highlighted it - Changed it. With jokes, a mahogany buffet, and a few hundred letters from members of the public.On Barry's Economics, we spend a lot of time talking about what needs to change; inequality, taxation, who owns what, who decides what. Mark Thomas spent decades actually doing it.This conversation is about how change works. Not in theory but in practice.And it starts with the most powerful weapon the people who benefit from inequality have - the belief that nothing can change. Mark Thomas is proof that belief is wrong.I’m Barry Ferns – a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review for future episodes!Mailing List: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/barryseconomics.bsky.socialIf you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first – his channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• Why Politicians Keep Getting It So Wrong - Barry's Economics 27.04.2026 18min

  Every Political and Economic debate about poverty and inequality goes the same way. Left says redistribute. Right says grow grow grow. Round and round.Why is it so endlessly circular - and why does nothing ever actually get fixed? One reason could be that there's an entire category of evidence that never makes it into the roomWe account for bias in medicine, law, and aviation. We just don't do it in economic policy. This video is about why that has to change.Sources mentioned:Keltner, D. - The Power ParadoxKraus, M.W. et al. - Social class, solipsism, and contextualismMirror neuron / wealth research - Sukvinder ObhiI’m Barry Ferns – a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review if you enjoyed this episode!Mailing List: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first – his channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• We Treat Billionaires Like Oracles. Here's Why That's Wrong - Barry's Economics 20.04.2026 14min

  We often treat extremely wealthy individuals as if they have a deeper understanding of how the world works.But there is a structural reason to question that assumption.As wealth increases, people become less exposed to many of the constraints and trade-offs that shape everyday life.Research in behavioural science suggests that people rely heavily on their own experience when forming judgments.At the same time, studies on power indicate that increased influence can change how people interpret others and the world around them.This episode looks at the neuroscience of power, the psychology of wealth, and why the people we treat as authoritative voices may be working from a very different version of reality.I’m Barry Ferns – a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review for future videos!Sign-up to mailing list: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first – his channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• The Manosphere Isn't About Men. Or Women - Barry's Economics 13.04.2026 31min

  Everyone has a take on the manosphere.This isn't one of them.Because the debate you've been watching - the one about men, women, masculinity, feminism, Andrew Tate, Jordan Peterson - isn't actually about any of those things.It's about something else entirely. Something far more boring and far more profitable.The science on this is extraordinary. And nobody is talking about it.Research and sources in this video:Naomi Eisenberger, UCLA, social exclusion and physical painHenri Tajfel, group identity, tribalism and prejudiceNYU Center for Social Media and Politic, algorithmic radicalisation on YouTubeMolly Crockett, Nature Human Behaviour (2017), moral outrage and social media amplificationDaniel Kahneman, System 1 and System 2 thinkingAnne Case and Angus Deaton, Princeton, Deaths of DespairLink 1 - Henri Tajfelhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciSx1EG4V0sLink 2 - Molly Crockethttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRAfcpPpXrgLink 3 - Anne Case and Angus Deatonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX9k4s_UWiU&t=320sLink 4 - Daniel Kahnemannhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PirFrDVRBo4&t=195sI’m Barry Ferns, a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review for future episodes!Mailing List: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first! His channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• The Economy Needs You To Feel Like A Failure - Barry's Economics 06.04.2026 31min

  You live in the wealthiest civilisation in human history. And yet - it's not enough, right?That's not a character flaw. It's the system working exactly as designed.This video is about what happens when the right answer becomes the wrong one. And why the neuroscience, the psychology, and the data all say the same thing: beyond a certain point, growth stops converting into wellbeing. That's not a side effect. It's the whole business model.Covering: dopamine and the wanting brain (Robert Sapolsky), the Easterlin Paradox, Maslows hierarchy, Tim Kasser on materialist values, Csikszentmihalyi's research, and Seligman's PERMA model. All peer-reviewed. All explained without the jargon.This isn't an argument against ambition. It's an argument for a better kind of it.I’m Barry Ferns, a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review for episodes! Join my mailing list: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first as his channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• I'm Being Trained and So Are You - Barry's Economics 30.03.2026 21min

  The Science Used to Control Your Behaviour....Last week I posted a video abotu Diary of a CEO that got 250,000 views in two days. Last Month I posted a video that now has HALF A MILLION VIEWSAnd the first thing my brain did was whisper: do it again.This video is about the business model of every major social media platform on earth and what that does to viewers (your scroll is not random), what it does to creators should terrify anyone who makes videos on here, and the neuroscience of why the people most at risk of being changed by the algorithm are exactly the people experiencing the most success.Plus: why I'm posting this video anyway.Sources & research referenced:Skinner, B.F. variable-ratio reinforcement (1938)Tamir & Mitchell, Harvard, the neuroscience of self-disclosure, PNAS (2012)Phil Reed, Swansea University, dopamine and drift detectionHogeveen, Inzlicht & Obhi, power and empathy, Journal of Experimental Psychology (2014)Wilkinson & Pickett, The Spirit Level (2009)Piketty, Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2013)I’m Barry Ferns, a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and and leave a review for future episodes!Mailing List: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first. His channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• Diary Of A CEO Is Making You Less Successful - Barry's Economics 23.03.2026 28min

  Diary Of A CEO podcast has 50 million listeners. Any of these Success podcasts - the Steven Bartlett or Chris Williamson types all promise you the secrets, strategies and frameworks of the world's most successful people. How to be Successful.Here's the problem: The science says it can't deliver on that promise. And not only that - if you look closely you can see that the business model shows that it was never designed to.This episode isn't about tearing down Steven Bartlett. It's about a structural problem with how success is sold to us - it's about Survivorship Bias, The Dunning Kruger effect, and why the most popular podcasts about success might be the very things standing between you and actually achieving it.Covered in this video:1- Philip Tetlock's 20-year study of 284 experts and 82,361 predictions — and what it reveals about confident people with frameworks2 - The Dunning-Kruger Effect and why the loudest voices are often the least informed3 - Duncan Watts' MusicLab experiment: 14,341 participants, and what it proves about how random success actually is4 - Benjamin Libet's neuroscience research on decision-making — and why successful people genuinely can't tell you how they succeeded5 - Survivorship bias, Abraham Wald, and why studying winners teaches you almost nothing6 - The business model that needs you to stay anxious, keep consuming, and never quite arriveThe Special Sauce doesn't exist. But there's a lot of money in making you believe it does.Sources referenced:Tetlock, P. - Expert Political Judgment, 2005Kruger, J. & Dunning, D. - Unskilled and Unaware of It, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1999Watts, D. - MusicLab experiment, Science, 2006Libet, B. - Unconscious cerebral initiative, Brain, 1983Soon, C.S. et al. - Unconscious determinants of free decisions, Nature Neuroscience, 2008I’m Barry Ferns is a comedian whose personal journey through failure, homelessness, and rebuilding led me to explore the socio and behavioural economics of inequality.This channel digs into how systems of power shape our identity, behaviour, and beliefs, and how we can shift the stories we tell ourselves and each other about poverty, inequality, and who’s to blame.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review for future episodes! Join my mailing list: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first – his channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• The War In Iran Is A Message And It's Aimed At You - Barry's Economics 16.03.2026 22min

  Everyone is arguing about whether the war on Iran was justified.That might not be the most important question.The deeper question is what happens when powerful actors publicly demonstrate that the rules of the international system don’t apply to them.Rules can feel frustrating. They slow decisions down and constrain power. But they also play a critical role in stabilising cooperation between societies.Research across neuroscience, psychology, political science and economics suggests that when people stop believing rules apply equally, something deeper begins to happen.Trust erodes.Cooperation breaks down.And societies become more vulnerable to polarisation and authoritarian politics.This episode looks at the research behind that process and why the psychological consequences of rule breaking may be one of the most important and least discussed dynamics in geopolitics right now.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow and leave a review for future videos! Mailing List: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first – his channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• Social Media's Dirty Secret: They Don't Use It - Barry's Economics 09.03.2026 20min

  The people who built social media often don't let their own children use it.These aren't worried parents who don't understand the technology.They're the engineers and executives who built the platforms and saw the internal data.And many of them made the same decision.Not my kids.So why isn't that the end of the argument?This episode looks at why that fact keeps getting ignored while the debate focuses on parental choice, free speech, and whether the harm is "proven enough".It also looks at the bias blind spot, the Facebook experiment on 700,000 users, and why the real problem might not be social media itself but the incentives driving the industry.If this episode was useful- consider following or reviewing the podcast - this channel doesn't take sponsorships or do brand deals.Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/BarrysEconomicsYou can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicsTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first – his channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/
• Why The Epstein Economy Needs You To Feel Hopeless - Barry's Economics 03.03.2026 22min

  Why does the system feel too big to fight?In this final episode of the Epstein Economy series, Barry explores the neuroscience of learned helplessness.Featuring research from:– Maier & Seligman– Damon Centola– Christakis & FowlerLarge systems don’t just concentrate wealth.They concentrate perceived power.But your brain may be underestimating how much influence coordinated action actually has.How to Support Barry’s EconomicsHelp us stay independent and keep making videos like this.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/barryseconomicshttps://ko-fi.com/barryseconomicshttps://www.patreon.com/barryseconomicsFollow for future episodes! Join my mailing list: https://barryferns.co.uk/You can also follow me on Tiktok: tiktok.com/@barryseconomicsInstagram: instagram.com/barryseconomicTwitter: twitter.com/barryseconomicsSubstack: https://substack.com/@barryseconomicsReddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/barryferns/If you’re new to this, check out Gary's Economics first – his channel gives the structural and financial perspective. This one adds the lived, social and emotional side.Support Gary's Wealth Tax Campaign Here: https://buy.stripe.com/dRm4gs9Nl1L6eqWbUydjO00Want to see the stand-up side of all this?Find my live comedy and storytelling here:https://www.youtube.com/@mrbarryfernsTo learn more about my comedy club, Angel Comedy, and buy tickets for shows head here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/