Friends — Joey Loses His Insurance

Joey finds out that he hasn’t been working enough lately, so the Screen Actors Guild is canceling his insurance. He’s quick to point out the moral hazard involved in insurance because now he has to be more careful!

Later in the episode, he comes down with a hernia after working out. Since his insurance has lapsed, he doesn’t have enough money to go to the doctor to get it looked out. Luckily, Joey is able to find a part as “dying man” and he ends up getting his health insurance back.

Thanks to Isabel Ruiz for the clip suggestion!

Friends — The One With All the Candy

 

Monica decides she wants to makes candy for the neighbors even in an attempt to get to know them better (or to liked?) She decides to place the candy in a basket on her door so that anyone can take a piece, but a tragedy of the commons ensues. Her neighbors are taking more than their “share” of the candy and are bothering her throughout the day to get more candy from her. When the commons has been exhausted, the neighbors form a mob.

Thanks to Dawn Renninger for the clip recommendation!

Friends — Rent Control

 

This is a classic example of a price ceiling, where the government comes in and sets a maximum price on what can be changed to consumers. One of the most prolific examples of price ceilings is rent control. In this episode of Friends, Chandler brags about how because the apartment was rent controlled, it was a ‘freaking steal!’

Thanks to James Tierney for the clip and description.

Friends — The One Where Joey Loses his Health Insurance

 

Joey loses his health insurance from SAG because he hasn’t been working enough jobs. He laments to Chandler that he now has to be more careful until he gets enough interviews to qualify again. The next day Joey gets a hernia, but won’t go to the hospital because he can’t afford. He tries to do a few different auditions with the hernia, but none of them really work in his favor.

Friends — Efficiency vs. Equity of Splitting Meals

This great clip from Friends shows the equity/efficiency tradeoff nicely. It’s also a nice opportunity to bring up the idea of fairness. While splitting a check into equal parts is easier, it’s not always appropriate for people who don’t eat much.

Friends: They Don’t Know That We Know

 

When teaching game theory, we inevitably spill into the notion of complete information with they “they know we know” and “we know that they know we know.” Now you can have Friends do it for you:

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