Category: Music

Rod Wave – Fight The Feeling

This song is about a girl in emotional pain following a breakup. Rod Wave watches her dancing and pretending she’s fine, but he can see she’s hurt behind her makeup, her look, and her attitude. He recognizes someone hiding their feelings because he’s one of them: he had a story of pain as well, and hiding feelings is something he knows very well.

The video can be a good segue into a conversation about sunk costs. The time we spend thinking about past romances doesn’t allow us to move on to better things. The past is sunk and can’t be recovered, so it shouldn’t be factored into how we make decisions. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done.

Thanks to Brad Scott for the recommendation!

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Lisa — Money

Lisa’s “Money” took over the airwaves thanks to TikTok. The song addresses several economic concepts. First, currency is considered a medium of exchange, and cash is perfectly liquid. Understanding the important role that currency plays is critical to market transactions. Second, the sum of currency and checkable deposits are equivalent to the M1, Money Supply. Throughout the song, Lisa assures us that cash and her bank account support her lifestyle. Lisa provides several lines about her purchasing and spending behavior, supporting the definition of the velocity of money. Economists measure the velocity of money to examine how currency travels throughout the economy, measuring the quantity of exchanges. 

Thanks to Brad Scott for the clip recommendation and summary!

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Boston — Rock & Roll Band (1976)

This song is older but is still useful as a discussion about investing in human capital. Human capital is much more than just getting a degree. Human capital also involves general knowledge (what do you know?), skills (what can you do?), experience (where have you been?), and personal characteristics (are you reliable? do you work well with others?). If you have a small enough class, ask students to identify investment in these characteristics based on the story in the song. Not only does the song tell a good story, but it also shows that there’s more than one way to get an education.

Thanks to Bryan Sloss for the submission and summary!

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Bruno Mars — The Lazy Song

Bruno Mars lists out all the things he could be doing that day if he he hadn’t decided to just lay in bed and be lazy. Even though choosing to lay in bed doesn’t have any monetary costs associated with it, it doesn’t mean that there are no costs to his decision. Every decision people make (even Bruno Mars) has an opportunity cost. While he may have a millions of dollars in his bank account, he still only has 24 hours in a day like the rest of us.

Thanks to John Raby for the submission!

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J. Cole — Brackets

J Cole discusses the impact of tax brackets on his earnings. As J Cole continues to increase his earnings, he moves into new tax brackets, which requires an increasing amount of tax liability to the government. This song could be used as a good pre-class video before discussing tax policy. The Tax Policy Foundation provides the country’s tax brackets since the inception income taxes as part of the 16th Amendment.

J Cole notes in the song that the money is supposed to support schools and roads, but he doesn’t believe the money is being used efficiently by politicians. He argues that because he pays so much, he should be able to have some say in how the money is used, but that’s part of the explanation for pork spending already in that companies rent seek and convince politicians to vote in favor of their interests:

I pay taxes, so much taxes, shit don’t make sense
Where do my dollars go? You see lately, I ain’t been convinced
I guess they say my dollars supposed to build roads and schools
But my niggas barely graduate, they ain’t got the tools
Maybe ’cause the tax dollars that I make sure I send
Get spent hirin’ some teachers that don’t look like them
And the curriculum be tricking them, them dollars I spend

Thanks to Kim Holder for the song suggestion!

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Lil Dicky — $ave Dat Money

Lil’ Dicky shows the process of trying to make the most epic rap video of all time, but without spending much money. The entire song looks at a variety of ways that Lil’ Dicky tries to save money and avoids spending money on unnecessary expenditures “just to flex.”

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The Beatles — The Taxman

I reached out on Twitter to solicit advice for great music videos associated with different lessons, and my former teaching assistant responded with this great song from the Beatles. One of the great lines from the song goes like this:

If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street,
If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat.
If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat,
If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet.

This is a great opener for a lesson on taxes and tax policy.

Thanks to Marissa Reuther for the song suggestion

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Beyonce — Irreplaceable

 

Beyonce does a great job discussing just how valuable she is as a partner (inelastic), but that her man isn’t all that special because “I could have another you in a minute” (elastic). These are good lines to talk about perfectly inelastic and perfectly elastic demand.

Thanks to Michael Coon for the recommendation!

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Das Racist — Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell

If you haven’t driven by YUM!’s combination stores, they are a site to see. A family of picky eaters can stop by a location and grab a combination (depending on the pairings) of pizza, tacos, fried chicken, fish, or burgers. The combination of stores varies depending on the area, and some even have three-in-one:

pizza hut taco bell kfc

This song (and accompanying picture) can serves a great introduction to the concepts of product differentiation and economies of scope. The YUM! brands have a large presence in major categories in the fast food market:

4. KFC —  20,404 locations
7. Pizza Hutt — 13,728
11. Taco Bell — 6,500

Thanks to Rob Szarka for the recommendation.

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Y.N. RichKids — Hot Cheetos and Takis

I reached out to #EconTwitter and asked what songs they like to use to teach different topics in their classes and the results did not disappoint:

Travis didn’t hesitate to reach out and suggest this catchy song about two popular snacks that they enjoy eating. The first question that comes to mind is if the two snacks are complements or substitutes for one another, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a combination bag from Frito-Lay soon.

Thanks to Travis Roach for the song suggestion.

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