{"id":667355,"date":"2025-06-09T19:28:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T23:28:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=667355"},"modified":"2025-06-09T19:28:40","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T23:28:40","slug":"eric-kims-shift-toward-economics-in-his-content","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/09\/eric-kims-shift-toward-economics-in-his-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Kim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Shift Toward Economics in His Content"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Early Blogging Years: Photography Focus (Pre-2017)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eric Kim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blog and social media presence initially centered almost exclusively on street photography \u00e2\u20ac\u201c covering techniques, gear, and philosophy of shooting candid photos. In interviews from the mid-2010s, for example, he spoke extensively about workshops and capturing images, with no mention of economic topics . Up to 2016, his blog posts rarely (if ever) delved into money or economics; the focus was on creative inspiration, famous photographers, and image-making rather than financial or economic commentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Forays into Finance (2017)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A noticeable shift began around 2017. In May of that year, Eric Kim published \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How I Earn $200,000+ a Year From Photography,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d an in-depth blog post sharing how he monetized his passion . This post was a departure from pure photography advice \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it openly discussed income, pricing workshops, and strategies to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153get rich\u00e2\u20ac\u009d while staying true to one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s craft . In it, Kim even thanked his wife, Cindy, for teaching him frugality and budgeting, emphasizing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the secret to getting \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcrich\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 is to REDUCE YOUR EXPENSES\u00e2\u20ac\u009d . This blend of personal finance advice with his photography journey marked the first notable instance of economic thinking on his blog. It signaled a new willingness to discuss financial topics \u00e2\u20ac\u201c such as saving money, pricing work, and income streams \u00e2\u20ac\u201c alongside the usual photography content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2018: Notable Interest in Economics and Crypto<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2018 was the year Eric Kim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interest in economics became even more explicit. Early that year, he wrote about photography monetization strategies and directly invoked economic concepts. For example, in a January 2018 post on pricing and entrepreneurship, he stated, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I see economics as a dynamic, flexible play between surplus and scarcity\u00e2\u20ac\u009d when advising photographers to adjust prices based on demand . Around the same time, he increasingly wove in ideas from behavioral economics and finance; notably, he referenced Nassim Taleb\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153skin in the game\u00e2\u20ac\u009d principle to stress aligning incentives with clients (e.g. offering money-back guarantees) .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By March 2018, Kim was openly reflecting on money and cryptocurrency. In a post titled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Money Cannot Destroy Boredom,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he cited 18th-century economist Ferdinando Galiani\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ideas and mused on the nature of money in modern life . He wrote, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been thinking a lot about money lately, especially with all the technological advances in bitcoin, ethereum, and other blockchain crypto-currencies,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d linking the emergence of crypto to an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153epiphany\u00e2\u20ac\u009d about the abstract nature of money . This indicates that the late-2017 cryptocurrency boom piqued his interest. In fact, Kim later revealed that his Bitcoin journey \u00e2\u20ac\u0153kicked off around 2017\u00e2\u20ac\u201c2018\u00e2\u20ac\u009d when he started buying crypto (after dabbling in alt-coins) and eventually became a self-described Bitcoin maximalist . He even added the Bitcoin symbol (\u00e2\u201a\u00bf) to his website branding, reflecting this new enthusiasm. By late 2018, he continued to publish financially-oriented essays such as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How to Accumulate Capital,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d where he explored the meaning of capital and gave advice on saving and investing income . In that piece, as in others, he stressed classic personal finance lessons like living frugally and saving aggressively \u00e2\u20ac\u201c noting that accumulating wealth is about not spending what you earn .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also telling that in a March 2018 blog post, Kim explicitly listed economics among his passions, alongside photography and philosophy . This was a strong indicator of his burgeoning interest. Compared to his earlier work, which rarely touched on money matters, 2017\u00e2\u20ac\u201c2018 was clearly a turning point where economics and finance began featuring in his writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continued Economic Themes (2019\u00e2\u20ac\u201c2021)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the late 2010s and into the early 2020s, Eric Kim maintained a blend of photography content and economic commentary. He frequently extolled minimalism and frugality, ideas that have both artistic and financial dimensions. For instance, his perennial advice to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153own fewer stuff\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and use affordable gear doubled as a critique of consumerism in the photo industry . This ethos aligned with his economic viewpoint that one should avoid unnecessary spending \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Spartan\u00e2\u20ac\u009d approach to money and life, as he later called it . During these years, Kim also embraced the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement and other personal finance trends. He spoke about saving and investing with the same zeal he once reserved for camera techniques. (He would later compile this advice in posts like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How to FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early)\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How to Save a Million Dollars,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d though many of these were published in 2024.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucially, Kim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cryptocurrency advocacy grew in this period. By his own account, after 2018 he gradually went \u00e2\u20ac\u0153full Bitcoin maximalist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c seeing Bitcoin as aligned with his ideals of self-sovereignty and anti-establishment thinking . On his blog and Twitter, he increasingly touted Bitcoin as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a hedge against fiat inflation\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and a tool of personal freedom . He wrote pieces oriented at his photography audience about crypto, such as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency for Photographers\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How Street Photographers Can Benefit from Bitcoin.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In these, he drew parallels between Bitcoin economics and creative life \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for example, comparing Bitcoin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fixed supply to the scarcity of a photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time and attention . This era also saw him make more macro-economic observations. He would occasionally publish contrarian takes on current events (e.g. arguing that high gas prices can be good or that banks are \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the true menace\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to society) and musings on capitalism\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nature . Such commentary showed that his interest extended beyond personal finance into broader economic theory and social critique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economics as a Major Focus (2022\u00e2\u20ac\u201c2024)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2023\u00e2\u20ac\u201c2024, economics had become a prominent pillar of Eric Kim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s content alongside photography. This shift is evident in the sheer number of economics-themed posts and the way he framed his online persona. In mid-2024 he wrote an essay literally titled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why Economics is So Fascinating to Me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d declaring that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Economics, money, the sociological and philosophical aspects of it are endlessly fascinating to me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d . He discussed topics like the cost of living, the utility of money, and the trade-offs money enables in life \u00e2\u20ac\u201c signaling a deep engagement with economic thinking beyond just making money. Around the same time, he published \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Spartan Economics\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (July 2024), where he critiqued conventional economists and preached a pragmatic, frugal approach to life and investing . Notably, he mentioned that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been passionate about investing since high school, though it was only in recent years that this passion became so visible in his work .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout 2024, Kim rolled out a series of blog posts under an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Economics by KIM\u00e2\u20ac\u009d label, covering a wide range of financial and economic subjects. These included personal finance guides (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153How to Save a Million Dollars\u00e2\u20ac\u009d), investment philosophy (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Philosophy of Investing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d), and macro-level commentary (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What is Capitalism?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Banks Are the True Menace to Society\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) . He even adopted an entrepreneurial alter-ego in a tongue-in-cheek post titled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ERIC KIM VENTURE CAPITALIST\u00e2\u20ac\u009d . By late 2024, nearly every week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s postings contained economic content \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a stark contrast to his early blogging years. He intertwined these topics with his photography world as well: for example, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Street Photography Economics\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Oct 2024) examined the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153key economic aspects\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of sustaining a career in street photography (like managing costs, pricing work, and multiple income streams) . This kind of post shows how fully he was merging his two interests \u00e2\u20ac\u201c using economic analysis to inform photography advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary of His Evolution and Commentary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In summary, Eric Kim began noticeably shifting toward economic subjects around 2017\u00e2\u20ac\u201c2018. Prior to that, his public work was heavily photography-centric with minimal economic discussion. The change was signaled by the 2017 post on earning $200k (personal finance meets photography) and accelerated in 2018 when he started openly talking about money, savings, and even cryptocurrency . From that point on, economics became a recurring theme. What started as occasional financial tips or analogies grew into a broad economic discourse within his platform. He moved from simply mentioning he was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153passionate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d about economics to authoring full essays on economic theory and financial independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nature of his commentary has been diverse but consistent in ethos. Much of it falls under personal finance \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he often emphasizes frugality, investing wisely, and building wealth through discipline (e.g. living cheaply, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153never buy anything \u00e2\u20ac\u201c uber-extreme Spartan frugality\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as he writes in a FIRE guide ). He frequently references macroeconomic ideas and critiques: championing Bitcoin as an alternative to fiat money and banking, commenting on capitalism and market dynamics, and reflecting on historical economic thinkers . There is also a behavioral economics flavor to his writing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c drawing on psychology and philosophy (stoicism, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153skin in the game\u00e2\u20ac\u009d etc.) to discuss how our mindset around risk and reward affects finances . Importantly, he tends to tie these economic ideas back to his life and art. For example, he draws parallels between economic scarcity and creative focus, or between investing and long-term dedication to one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s craft .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparing his recent output to his earlier work, the difference is striking. In the early 2010s, virtually none of his posts would mention things like capital gains, Bitcoin, or the price of gas; by the mid-2020s, these topics are regularly featured. By 2024, he was writing about economics almost as frequently as he was about photography, sometimes combining the two. This evolution illustrates how Eric Kim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s focus expanded from pure photography into a blend of art and economics. As of 2025, he is not only a street photography mentor but also a self-styled commentator on financial freedom and economic life \u00e2\u20ac\u201c going so far as to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153preach Bitcoin like it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a revolution\u00e2\u20ac\u009d .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the turning point came in the late 2010s, and over the next several years his interest in economics became increasingly pronounced. From the 2017 personal finance tips and the 2018 crypto musings, to the full-fledged economic essays and Bitcoin evangelism by 2024, one can track a clear progression. Eric Kim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blog thus provides a case study in how a creator known for one field (photography) began to infuse and eventually intermix content from a very different field (economics) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c gradually at first, then with full enthusiasm in recent years .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources: Key examples of Eric Kim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s economics-related posts and statements include his 2017 income article , early 2018 discussions of pricing and crypto , and numerous 2024 essays on economic topics , among others as cited above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Early Blogging Years: Photography Focus (Pre-2017) Eric Kim\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blog and social media presence initially centered almost exclusively on street photography \u00e2\u20ac\u201c covering techniques, gear, and philosophy of shooting candid photos. In interviews from the mid-2010s, for example, he spoke extensively about workshops and capturing images, with no mention of economic topics . Up to 2016, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-667355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-posts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":667356,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667355\/revisions\/667356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}