Mary Poppins is more than an amusement for children, it is a great treatise on economics and a good introduction to financial education and values
Eye, there will be spoilers. Mary Poppins (1964) is one of the most complete economic films in the history of cinema and watching it should be part of every core topic on the subject.
It’s difficult to cover so many economic ideas in such depth and in such a short time, with the quality and care with which it is done during the 2 hours and 19 minutes of footage. With the economic and healthcare crisis we are experiencing, it is more than ever necessary to put people at the center of the economy and that makes this film completely topical.
At that time, many of the economic concepts we are going to describe had not even been studied. This is the case of behavioral economics (behavioural finance) or gamification. For this reason, in addition to being a film ahead of its time, it has prophetic elements, such as the ending of the song where the bank executives sing, “If the Bank of England resists, England will resist, but if the Bank of England falls, England will fall, almost 30 years before George Soros expelled sterling from the European Exchange Mechanism in 1992.
The film constantly plays with contrasts. It starts with Bert the chimney sweep singing “people know this job is submissive, but it gives them a glow” and immediately after showing us the opposite: an upper-class Victorian family, with a surname that conveys a clear statement of intent. is. Banks, banks in English.
From the outset, the sheer social inequality of the time has been the protagonist and, in all the cases presented, work and professionalism are valued, be it banker, nanny or chimney sweep, among the different professions that appear throughout the film.
The British writer, actress and journalist Pamela Lyndon Travers (literary pseudonym for Helen Lyndon Goff) wrote the five stories from 1934 with the nanny Mary Poppins in the lead role. Thirty years later, Walt Disney would turn the first part into a musical film. Wikimedia Commons
Industrial relations are analyzed in detail. Mr. Banks is looking for a babysitter and for this he almost places a newspaper ad, conducts an interview and eventually hires Mary. Subsequently, the new employee receives a reprimand from her employer. Mr. Banks, dreaming of a promotion, is eventually fired and the consequences of that dismissal are visible both in the person and in the family. Depression, abuse of power or despotism are exposed and thoroughly dissected, always with humor and sensitivity. A very difficult exercise.
Presented the labor law, we proceed to analyze the essence of the work. Work generates life and is an end in itself. Can we consider Mary Poppins as Marxist? If we look in the analysis at the chimney sweep’s role and its net worth compared to that of the Banks family, the answer is probably yes.
In giving the instructions for the game getting started well saves work, Mary Poppins puts forward the following idea: in every job or profession there is an element of fun, that element is sought after and work is a game! In the year 2002, the game designer Nick Pelling started talking about gamification (from the English term game) and so modern economics begins to approach Mary Poppins doctrine.
Gamification aside, the phrase “with a little sugar that pill they give you will go better” is a perfect example of Nudge theory. Pushing is a way of influencing people’s behavior without coercion or prohibition, using positive reinforcement. It is part of behavioral economics or behavioral finance for which the work of Richard Thaler was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics in 2017. Can you learn economics and enjoy it at the same time? What incentives does a society need to transform itself? Was Mary Poppins a behavioral economist?
Mary Poppins undoubtedly set a good example by teaching the young Banks brothers to fish instead of feeding them fish.
Another important part of the film is the anthological description of the banking system. The song Fidelity Fiduciary Bank describes perfectly how “if you know a good job for two cents you earn more and the capital always rises at the bank”.
Another good example is the name of the bank itself: Dawes, Tomes, Mousely and Grubbs, Banco de Ahorro, Crédito y Seguridad, showing that the longer and more complex the product name, the more likely the unwary arrested.
Do you remember the 2008 financial crisis? I encourage you to listen to the whole song: financial instruments appear (bonds and stocks), major investment projects and some more winks. The best is yet to come, though: Just after that song comes what’s probably the best movie description of a bank run. By shouting “My penny, they’ve taken my penny!” little Michael creates a monstrous butterfly effect that ends with a couch box. Spectacular.
Throughout the film there is more, much more. The contrast between Bert’s life, resourceless but always cheerful, and the bitter Mr Banks; the constant play with expectations, intrinsic value (Bert remarks wryly: “You mustn’t waste your precious time on such nonsense: walking the children is useless”) or Mrs. Banks’ struggle for the right to vote are examples. The importance of childhood, poverty or responsible parenting are other elements that constantly come onto the scene.
It’s hard to tell so much and so well in just over two hours.
This article was published in The conversation
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
