Turtle and Drama search for a new apartment, but Johnny isn’t a very good negotiator. The real estate agent doesn’t seem interested in budging and pushes Drama above his original budget.
The Real — Thanksgiving Tap Out
Guest co-host, Ashanti, mentions that expensive flights during Thanksgiving should be “tapped out” because a lot of people need to be with their families during Thanksgiving. This relates to the concept of demand and supply because the airlines know that when it is close to Thanksgiving, the demand for flights increases, and since most people are eager to be with their families, they are rather inelastic to the price change, so the firms take advantage of this and raise the price of the tickets drastically in order to increase their total revenue.
Thanks for the clip and summary Tammy Georgewill!
Real Husbands of Hollywood — Kevin Needs His Sneakers
Kevin needs to get a pair of sneakers for his son, but only Nick has any around. Even though he hates Nick, he feels like he needs to pay big money in order to secure a pair for his son. By choosing to limit the number of shoes available, a shortage exists for the sneakers. Only toward the end do we learn that a black market dealer may have access to another pair of shoes.
Thanks to Ryan Welch for the clip!
The Hudsucker Proxy — The Hula Hoop
This is a clip from the movie “The Hudsucker Proxy” (1994). In the scene, the store owner have a hard time selling the Hula Hoop. He kept lower the price but still no one wants to buy the Hula Hoop even he end up giving them for free with any purchase. He then throw all them out of the store and one of them accidentally bump into a boy. The boy start playing with it and the other kids saw it. After that, they all run to the store for the Hula Hoop. As more and more kids tried to buy a Hula Hoop, the price goes up again and even higher than before.
This related to the idea of demand and supply. At first, the Hula Hoop was not popular for kids so there’s no one wants to buy it. However, after the kids saw the boy playing with it, their preference change. Preference can change the demand of a product. When the demand increase, the price of the product and the supply also increase.
Thanks for the clip and summary Yi Chun Liu.
Trading Places — Haggling at the Pawn Shop
Louis, played by Dan Aykroyd in Trading Places, is trying to earn some cash by selling is premium Swiss sports watch, but the Philadelphia owner isn’t seeing its value. Louis reluctantly agrees to sell for well below the original price.
Trading Places — Pork Bellies Going Down
Billy, played by Eddie Murphy in Trading Places, works through the process of why pork belly prices are declining during the Christmas season.
The Barenaked Ladies — If I Had a Million Dollars
If you had a million dollars, what would you buy? A bunch of normal goods most likely or you may decrease the number of inferior goods. Ask you students to list off the things they would do with a million dollars and then have them identify whether the things they would change are normal or inferior goods.
Ron White — Cost of Sunglasses
Ron isn’t sure how a pair of sunglasses can cost more than a color television. On a recent trip to the Sunglass Hut to pick up a pair of new sunglasses, he encounters a salesperson who tries to convince him that the elimination of UV rays makes the glasses worth their price tag. Ron, not so politely, disagrees.
The Notorious B.I.G — Mo’ Money Mo Problems
Time to teach normal goods? Based on Biggy’s hit song Mo Money Mo Problems, problems seem to be a normal good.
The Bourne Identity — I Need a Ride
Jason Bourne, played by Matt Damon, asks a cash-strapped young woman (Franka Potente) for a lift while Conklin (Chris Cooper) musters all of his forces to find him. Both parties have something that the other one needs, so a mutually beneficial trade occurs. This clip really highlights the concept of double coincidence of wants.