Category: Foundations

Last Leg — David Mitchell on Tax Avoidance

The Last Leg is a British comedy and late night television talk show similar to the Late Show or The Tonight Show in the United States. The economist David Mitchell was a guest one night and opted to talk about taxes, tax evasion, and tax avoidance. He notes that people who have a conscious and try to pay their “fair share” of taxes are actually being taxed at a higher rate than those who are trying to avoid paying taxes. This is backwards from the traditional notion that governments should use taxes to discourage bad behavior.

Thanks for the clip Chris Neill.

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Home Improvement — Technological Improvement

Tim decides to customize his lawn mower in order to get more power out of it. By doing so he’s able to mow his lawn much quicker than he previous did. This technological innovation allows him to complete his task much quicker and spend more time on other tasks that need to be completed around the house.

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Bud Light — Swear Jar

Normally a swear jar would be used to curb bad behavior (like in this clip from New Girl), but the folks around this office are using the money to buy Bud Light and have incidentally increased the usage of swear words.

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Stella Artois — The Race

Sometimes a good thing is too good to pass up. The young men could continue the big race or they could sacrifice their chance for a cold beer. They chose the latter.

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Grey’s Anatomy — Who Should You Help?

Two victims of a train accident come into the emergency room with a pole going between both their stomachs. The team isn’t able to help one patient without causing potential injuries to the other patient. The doctors go back and forth about who to help and what to do. If they decide to help one patient, the other is sure to die. How do you decide who gets to live?

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TED — How Containerization Shaped the Modern World

Sir Harold Evans, the author of They Made America, describes how the shipping container revolutions international trade and made it easier to ship products around the world. This TED Talk could be used when discussing comparative advantage and trade or even when thinking about factors that have led to the growth of countries.

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Mitch Hedberg — Comparative Advantage in Comedy

Mitch Hedberg has spent a lot of time becoming a good comedian, but as soon as he gets to Hollywood, people start asking him to do other things that he isn’t (comparatively) good at like acting or writing. He compares this to spending time becoming a great cook and then being asked if you could farm. People should specialize in what they have a comparative advantage in and if Mitch Hedberg spent is time writing or acting then he’d be giving up a lot of income as a good comedian.

You can see the full clip on Comedy Central.

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YouTube — Trying to Buy People’s Dogs

This prankster is going around Chicago asking people to sell their dog for up to $10,000. Most people aren’t willing to part with their beloved pooch, but some people consider his offer. This clip is a good introduction to the idea of willingness to sell and people’s subject valuation of their possessions.

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The Simpsons — No Diminishment for Homer

Homer and Marge head to the Frying Dutchman for the all-you-can-eat buffet. Heading late into the night, Homer doesn’t seem to be experiencing any diminishing returns even after eating all of the shrimp and two plastic lobsters. Even though he isn’t experiencing diminishing returns, Homer appears to be optimizing his utility since the marginal cost of each plate (and each plastic lobster) is $0.

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