Show and Biz

María Blanco is Associate Professor of Economic History and Institutions at Universidad San Pablo-CEU in Madrid, Spain.Alberto Mingardi is Associate Professor of the history of political thought at IULM University in Milan, Italy. He is also Director General of Istituto Bruno Leoni and a Presidential Scholar in Political Theory at Chapman University (Orange, Ca).

How is capitalism represented in popular culture today? Are profits seen as a legitimate reward of entrepreneurship? Are thrift and effort still considered a cornerstone of a healthy society? Or is it that inequalities are eliciting scandal and reproach? How is the ecosystem portrayed, vis-à-vis profit seeking companies? Are they irreconcilable, or maybe not? Are there any established trends with respect to the presentation of entrepreneurship, and that complex legal artefact that is the modern limited liability company?These are questions that will be at the core of this book. But they are not examined through the usual theoretical point of references, but looking at TV series produced in 2000-2020.Each chapter of this book is a case studies, covering some of the most popular, successful and engaging TV shows of the last 20 years. And showing how deep economic ideas and biases lie, at the roots of some of our times' most successful entertainment products.

DedicationPrefaceMaría Blanco (Universidad CEU-San Pablo, Spain) and Alberto Mingardi (IULM University, Italy)1. Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise in the Gilmore GirlsNur Baysal (University of St Andrews, UK)2. Supplies, Slaves, and Sex: Firefly and the Ethical Frontiers of EntrepreneurshipSarah Skwire (LibertyFund, USA)3. Entrepreneurship and the Market Economy in The Wire: Stringer's Ill-fated Second ChanceStefano Adamo (University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina)4. Growing Up with the Country: Deadwood and the Business of AmericaMichael Valdez Moses (Chapman University, USA)5. The Bourgeois Virtues in Deadwood: Challenging American IdeologyBart J. Wilson, Nicholas A. Callen, Jan Osborn, Max Schartz, Colin White (Chapman University, USA)6. Mad Men: An Anti-capitalistic Ode to the PresentLuigi Marco Bassani (University of Milan, Italy)7. Gossip Girl: The Business of Being FamousManuel Santos Redondo (Universidad Complutense, Spain)8. Looking Into the Jaws of Capitalism: Shark Tank and Economic TheoryPaul A. Cantor (University of Virginia, USA)9. Parks and Recreation: Mouse Rat, Snake Juice, and the Cones of DunshireDylan Pahman (Acton Institute, USA)10. The NewsroomCarlos Rodríguez Braun (Universidad Complutense, Spain)11. Clueless Innovators and Boring Managers: Popular Perceptions of Business in Halt and Catch FireNikolai Wenzel (Fayetteville State University, USA)12. StartUp on TVIrene Correas Sosa (Universidad CEU-San Pablo, Spain)13. Narcos: México: Drugs, Public Opinion, Venezuela, and "Neoliberalism"Fernando Claro14. A Tale of Two Villains: Finance and the State in the TV series BillionsCarlo Amenta (University of Palermo, Italy)15. Inequalities at the End of the World: Snowpiercer, Entrepreneurship and DisorderAlberto Mingardi (IULM University, Italy)Index