A bit more background

I studied economics because I liked the maths and stayed because I liked the arguments.

I’ve been lecturing for over a decade, which is how I know exactly where the standard curriculum leaves holes. The same three or four concepts trip up students every single year, in every cohort, and it’s almost never the students’ fault.

On investing — I started putting my own money in the markets in 2009, partly out of curiosity and partly because I was teaching asset pricing and felt like a fraud doing it purely on paper. It’s been useful. Models that look elegant in a lecture behave very differently when you’re actually exposed. I bring that into teaching where it’s relevant, though I want to be clear: I teach the theory and the maths. I don’t give investment advice and I’m not going to tell you what to buy.

On Money, Plainly — I wrote it because financial literacy material is either patronising or trying to sell you something. It’s had over 40,000 students now, which still surprises me. It’s aimed at general audiences, not economists — so if you’re here for master’s-level work, that’s not what you want. This is.

On teaching style — I’m told I’m direct. I think what people mean is that I’ll tell you when something’s wrong rather than working around it. I find that saves everyone time. I’m genuinely patient with confusion — I’m less patient with students who don’t do the work between sessions, because there’s no point in either of us being there.

Where I work — Paramaribo, and online for anyone anywhere. Most of my students are remote these days.