Tag: opportunity cost

Life in Pieces — Coupons as gifts

Matt isn’t the best at giving gifts and he’s realizing that this year. Matt gives his wife a homemade coupon book that she decides to finally cash in to show him how awful the gifts are. After a while he doesn’t work as hard, but then at family dinner he finds out that no one really appreciates his gifts because it doesn’t seem like he puts much thought into them. There is a small line about positive externalities because Jen got a flu shot for her birthday once, which her husbands announces was “the gift that keeps on giving.”

Life in pieces also has another great clip on opportunity cost that’s worth checking out!

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Chris Young — Beer or Gasoline

Tradeoffs are one topic you can use this video for. With only $3 to his name, Chris needs to decide between a gallon of gas or a 6-pack of beer!

Thanks to James Tierney for the clip and description. For more country videos with economics, check out EconGoneCountry!

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Ryan Hamilton — Canceling a Gym Membership

Ryan goes through the steps he had to complete in order to cancel his gym membership. By requiring all of the additional steps to opt out of the membership, it decreases the likelihood that individuals will actually cancel their membership and instead pay the monthly fee despite not wanting the service. Ryan even discusses how he’s fallen victim to the sunk cost fallacy because he walked by his gym on the way to purchase envelopes for the letter, but he was already “in too deep” to stop by and cancel in person.

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Home Improvement — Technological Improvement

Tim decides to customize his lawn mower in order to get more power out of it. By doing so he’s able to mow his lawn much quicker than he previous did. This technological innovation allows him to complete his task much quicker and spend more time on other tasks that need to be completed around the house.

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Stella Artois — The Race

Sometimes a good thing is too good to pass up. The young men could continue the big race or they could sacrifice their chance for a cold beer. They chose the latter.

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Grey’s Anatomy — Who Should You Help?

Two victims of a train accident come into the emergency room with a pole going between both their stomachs. The team isn’t able to help one patient without causing potential injuries to the other patient. The doctors go back and forth about who to help and what to do. If they decide to help one patient, the other is sure to die. How do you decide who gets to live?

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The Man Show — Toilet Money (NSFW)

 

In this clip from the Man Show, Adam and Jimmy prank bathroom visitors by pouring a beer in a toilet along with fake feces and a $20 bill. The hosts try to guess whether the visitors are willing to put their hand in the toilet for $20.

Thanks Matt Rousu for this clip!

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Friends — The Job is in Paris

In the beginning of the clip Rachel tells Ross that she got her old job back at Ralph Lauren.  Ross asks if she is still going to take the job in Paris (which she was offered in the previous episode) since she was hired back at her old job.  Rachel says she still wants to go to Paris because when the people at Loui Vuitton found out Ralph Lauren wanted her back they decided to offer her more money.  This clip is a good example of opportunity cost, which is the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.  If Rachel wouldn’t have chosen, the job in Paris she would have been missing out on more money than if she would have stayed.  Since she is taking the job in Paris her opportunity cost is that she will have to leave her friends and family.

Thanks Kailey Werkheiser for the clip and the summary!

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How I Met Your Mother — Track & Field Robots

In this clip, Tracy has a small debate with her roommate about going out to a party on St. Patrick’s day. While her roommate tries to convince her to go out, claiming that she is doing nothing with her time, Tracy rebuttals and says how she is “about to enter my robots doing track and field events period” as she looks over at her painting she has been working on. This clip displays the concept of opportunity cost. If Tracy decides to go out she could potentially be finding a new possible soulmate but she would be giving up time to work on her painting. If she decided to stay home, she could improve and progress the work on her painting but she would be giving up her potential love she could be finding.

Thank you for the clip and summary James Hetherington!

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Brad Paisley — I’m Gonna Miss Her

 

The song is about a guy that chose to go fishing instead of staying with his wife. It shows opportunity costs because he could either choose fishing where he didn’t know if he would catch anything or stay with his wife which could have been the best thing for him.

Thanks for the summary and the clip Aaron Wolfe! If you’d like to see more country music videos that have economic themes, check out Econ Gone Country.

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