Springfield residents are clamoring to re-enact prohibition in town, but the City Council feels like the positive externalities outweigh the costs associated with alcohol. The County Clerk finds an old law for Springfield ordinance that actually outlaws alcohol. The new Duff Zero (alcohol-free beer) isn’t as popular as the original and the Duff factory has to shut down.
Louis CK — If Murder Were Legal
Louis CK works through the rational model of crime by Becker and why he’s happy that there are laws against murdering people. This clips would be great for a behavioral economics course or maybe a funny introduction to principles to talk about incentives, externalities, and public policy.
Futurama — Big Piece of Garbage
A giant ball of garbage is heading toward earth and the gang learns what caused it. Early settlers of New York City couldn’t figure out where to dump all their garbage. After the barges filled up, the citizens were able to acquire a rocket and shoot the garbage into space. The trash is coming back though!
Dilbert — Wind chimes
Dilbert is annoyed by all the noise his neighbors are making. He tries to walk over and solve the problem on his own, but his neighbors keep doing other things that bother Dilbert.
The Simpsons — Blinky the Fish
Bart and Lisa are fishing when Bart pulls out a fish with three eyes. The end of the clip reveals they are fishing from a stream close to the town’s Nuclear Power Plant. This clip displays the concept of negative externalities, as the three-eyed fish was implied to be a product of runoff from the nuclear power plant.
Thanks for the clip and summary Peter Selinsky.
Christian Finnegan — Fat Tax
Christian Finnegan knows he isn’t in the best shape so he’s decided to join a gym. He figures that at least if he never goes to the gym then he can consider the gym membership a form of fat tax. This framing adjustment could still have the same impact as working out since he now has to internalize his decision to eat unhealthy foods.
Anchorman — Sex Panther Cologne
An example of a negative externality is displayed in the movie Anchorman when Paul Rudd’s character, Brian Fantana, sprays his so-called desirable perfume, Sex Panther, which is claimed to contain real bits of panther and is also illegal in nine countries. He states, “60% of the time, it works everytime”. After he applies this stinky spray, he goes to talk to Veronica Corningstone. As soon as he walks into the busy room, everyone leaves and coughs in disgust from the scent of this special cologne.
Thanks for the clip Allie Ziolkowski!
Axe Commercial
In this quick Axe commercial, we can observe both positive and negative externalities associated with cologne use. The original wearer didn’t realize the (good and bad) impact the second elevator guest would receive from his use of Axe Body Spray, and thus didn’t take that into account when he was applying it.
How I Met Your Mother — Bagpipes
Robin and Ted list all the ways that the upstairs neighbors are being inconsiderate during their “bagpiping.” While enjoying themselves, they are causing a negative externality in the apartment below them and they aren’t considering that when they decide to bagpipe.
Adam Ruins Everything — Trophy Hunting
Some markets fail because of the lack of property rights, but trophy hunting could actually be used to alleviate some of those issues by assigning property rights to game wardens and then selling licenses for the right to hunt the animals. The funding from the licenses could then be used to help maintain the population. We don’t think Adam ruined anything here.
Big thanks to Kalina Staub for sharing this one with us!