The Student Economics Association at Sacramento State has found a possible method to controlling climate change: laughter.

The association will welcome Yoram Bauman, a comedian with a doctorate in environmental economics, to campus at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Hinde Auditorium.

The free event will feature a comedic performance by Bauman. His stand-up routine focuses on economics and climate change.

Bauman said his hope for the performance is to show students how they can use economics as a tool to protect the environment.

“It’s an important thing to figure out because capitalism and market forces are super powerful and if we can get them to help us protect the environment, then we can deal a lot better with things like climate change,” he said.

Students do not have to be economic majors to understand the show, Bauman said.

“Comedy lets me it spread my message to a broader audience, people who are not your standard economic majors. At the same time it can be exciting for people who are,” he said.

Katherine Chalmers, adviser to the Student Economics Association and economics professor, said any student with an interest in climate change should attend the show.

He speaks simply about economics so students can relate to his subjects, Chalmers said.

“Economics can be a very theoretical class and speakers like Bauman help give students a real-life example,” she said.

Walter Cook, graduate economics student and association member, said the theories economic students learn bring about presumptions of the economic world that may not always be accurate.

Although these assumptions are necessary to display straightforward models of how economies work, he said, students should still step back, think and look at how these models actually function.

The United States’ current economic crisis is an example of how models can go wrong, Cook said.

Economic models assume individuals who are participating will act rationally and will take action that furthers their self-interest, he said.

Cook said although there is a dispute about what caused the economic crisis, one possible cause is because individuals who pursued their self-interest, pursued a self-interest that did not benefit them in the long run – so they did not act rationally.

“Bauman attempts to examine the reality of how these models function by breaking them apart and offering an entertaining criticism of it. This is important because economies work best when we’re continually questioning the models in which the assumptions are based,” he said.

Bauman’s approach to economics appealed to Chalmers, she said, because he effectively delivers a message about environmental change and how economics works.

“The thing about comedy is that you can deliver a serious message to people in a way that won’t make them defensive. People are more open to the information being shared and it’s an effective way to get someone to change their mind about something,” Chalmers said.

Cook said most economics speakers usually give very serious lectures, but Bauman gives economics an interesting twist by using comedy.

“He’s appealing to many students; I know a group of students from Davis who are planning to come to Sac State to see him, and students from Davis coming to Sac State for events doesn’t happen often,” he said.

Bauman gained his popularity not only by his stand-up acts but also from his book “The Cartoon Introduction to Economics,” which is similar to a comic book that depicts microeconomics.

Bauman said comedy was not part of his plan when he was studying economics as a student. Comedy caught his interest after he wrote a parody of an economics textbook in graduate school.

He then started attending open mic nights, and after his YouTube video hits reached the thousands, people hired him for his stand-up routines.

Bauman said he hopes that by sharing his comedy with students, they may one day help to change things.

“Talking to students about environmental issues is important because it’s those students who will become leaders and be able to influence policy change to save our climate,” he said.

Miriam Arghandiwal can be reached at [email protected]