The Economist outlines the impact that immigrants (particularly young ones) could have profound impacts cities that struggle with revitalization. If you’re looking for a book that details many of the arguments made in this video, I highly recommend Moretti’s New Geography of Jobs.
New Girl – Douchebag Jar
Schmidt has a tendency to be a bit eccentric and bother his roommates with a variety of sayings/outfits. These outburst tend to annoy his roommates so they collectively agree to regular his behavior and force him to pay a tax to a “douchebag jar” when he does things the group considers unfavorable.
The Colbert Report: Evan Osnos & Cashmere
Evan Osnos discusses many of the externalities that arise from the increased production of Cashmere in China over the past decade. Osnos explains that cashmere goats in China have sharp hooves that tear up the landscape and create dust, which then travels to the United States and reduces air quality, particularly along the west coast. As cashmere consumption has increased, so has the pollution. Osnos refers to the “real costs” of cashmere items (such as a cashmere toilet seat cover that Colbert has) as including the health care costs for those affected by the dust.
Here’s a lesson plan from SERC: https://serc.carleton.edu/econ/interactive/examples/43020.html
Ted: Jonas Eliasson: How to solve traffic jams
Traffic jams are often provided as an example of a market failure. Drivers are focused on their own driving and don’t consider how it may impact others. As a result, too many people use road systems and congestion occurs. This Ted Talk highlights how Pigouvian taxes could be used to correct the market failure by instituting congestion taxes. While it’s not presented by an economist, he uses a lot of economics concepts throughout the talk.
Time — Bees & Almonds
This clip covers the production externalities associated with beekeeping.
King of Queens: Dog Days
The neighborhood dog has been a bit of a bother for the Heffernans, but they may have come to a solution through private bargaining.
Neal Brennan: College Loans
A student in my Labor Economics class shared this great clip of standup comedian Neal Brennan discussing why banks don’t want to loan for college degrees. This is a great clip to talk about capital market imperfections and even signalling.
Above Average: Everyone’s Upstairs Neighbor
Here’s a nice satirical video of what an upstairs neighbor sounds like. Traditionally, they aren’t factoring in the impact of their loud noises on the people who live below them, but in this case, the upstairs neighbor knows exactly what they’re doing.
US Bank Pay a Person — Unobstructed
This was a great commercial from US Bank, which I use to talk about externalities and transactions costs.
Birds on a Wire — Externalities
This clips was shared by CharityJoy Acciardo. It’s a nice clip to show before class starts or in the beginning of class on common resources, network externalities and congestion externalities.