Which Villain’s Plans in James Bond movies would have worked (and which not)?

Superb article this (HT: WSJ Econ Blog).  Bilge Ebiri interviews Jean-Jacques Dethier, a development economist at the World Bank (and a lifelong Bond fan).

Most James Bond movies have an economic motive as villain is looking to rake in the moolah via his grandiose plan. Dethier speaks on the plot first and then discusses whether the plot was economically right or not:

While the bad guy in Skyfall is obsessed primarily with revenge and humiliation, many of James Bond’s chief adversaries over the years have wanted something more simple and tangible: cash money. The Bond villain is often deranged and grandiose, sure, but he (or she) is also capable of hatching elaborate plans to increase their bottom line, often by secretly manipulating the world’s economic systems (sometimes with the aid of a clandestine nuclear weapon or two). So, could they have succeeded? If James Bond hadn’t foiled these plots, could these Bond villains have fulfilled their dreams of financial glory? We looked through their schemes, and asked Jean-Jacques Dethier, a development economist at the World Bank (and a lifelong Bond fan), what he thought.

 So there are eight movie plots discussed here. It seems most plots were either unviable  or unrelaistic from an economic perspective. Casino Royale was an exception though..

Superb way to learn a bit of economics..

Addendum: Tyler Cowen adds some more knowhow. Actually I should also be probing the explanations by Dethier..

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