Teaching Economics with Media
George has become quite the entrepreneur through arbitrage. First, he buys snow globes from a company going out of business to resell at a higher price than to his neighbors. Now, he realizes that he can buy candy in bulk and then sell it outside the vending machine to people looking for a cheaper option. Even though it’s against school rules, he realizes that the school’s monopoly power over the vending machines results in higher prices than what’s necessary.
Russ Roberts spins a tale of a local bread market and wonders about the power of such a market. He hypothesizes the trouble that could occur if one person were given supreme power and became a bread czar. You can read the poem online as well, with commentary!
The gang decides to try and start selling their own gasoline because they are tired of the high prices the local gas station is charging. The three come into the gas station to let the owner know that he’s about to see the pain of a free market because they intend to take customers away from him. Free markets allow for easy entry and exit of competitors, which should drive down prices and profits.
Alan needs some extra income and decides to offer massages at the mall. He quickly finds stiff competition and gets into a price war with another masseuse. The price war eventually gets so low that the entrant decides to exit the market.
Homer finds great success in operating a snow plow business, but his success is short-lived. Because of the ease of entry into the market, competition quickly eliminates his profits and he finds that competition isn’t as friendly as expected.
The characters are complaining about Handicar, a service provided by Timmy and how it is stealing all of the transportation business. Mimsy, another driver, adds his two sense by talking about competition. He includes an economist’s take on incentives and how a certain producer can gain economic advantages in a competitive market. This is important to economics because it includes the topics of a competitive marketplace as well as the concepts of advantage in that marketplace.
Thank you for the clip and the summary Taylor Campbell.
Price wars aren’t good for business profits, which is why many firms may want to collude. If two goods are close substitutes, prices should be driven down near the marginal cost of production. This is a good introduction to the long run outcome of perfect competition, but can also be used to show the shut down rule. When prices drop too low, it may be worth some firms to stop production.