Tag: scarcity

Surfer, Dude – What’s So Special About Surfing?

In Surfer, Dude, a soul-searching surfer (played by Matthew McConaughey) experiences an existential crisis when no waves come for over a month. When asked “what’s so special about surfing,” he responds with:

What’s so special about the wind? Surfing is to… be with that mystery. To ride
that mystery for as long as you can. And then when it’s over that’s cool because
you know what? You were there, in line and on time.

Surfer, Dude (2008)

Ocean waves can be forecasted, tracked, and even hunted by the most dedicated surfers, but ultimately, they are an unpredictable natural resource that is scarce. McConaughey’s character recognizes the value of this scarce resource beyond monetary terms.

Thank you to Amanda Mandzik for the clip submission.

0

Point Break — The 50-Year Storm

An FBI agent goes undercover to infiltrate the surfing community. The agent learns about a “50-Year Storm” that is predicted to generate the largest wave imaginable. The surfers want to ride it and are willing to risk their lives to do it. The surfers are acutely aware of our limited time on earth and want to maximize their happiness while they can. Resources, like time and money, are scarce and individuals face tradeoffs when determining what objectives to pursue. In the case of riding the biggest wave known to mankind, that tradeoff may include their life.

Thanks to Mandy Mandzik for the clip submission.

0

Surf’s Up – Cody’s Second Board and Tube Talk

Cody is a surfing penguin who is preparing for a big competition. He’s already broken his first board and his mentor Big Z is trying to break his second one. Cody doesn’t have a lot of time left for the big competition, so he’s focused entirely on getting this board finished. Time is one of our scarce resources, and requires us to make decisions about how to properly allocate them to get the most out of what we’re doing. When Big Z goes on a memory trip about riding a tube, Cody can only focus on how many points that would earn him in the competition. His focus on limited time and maximizing points is frustrating Big Z.

Thanks to Amanda Mandzik for the scene recommendation.

0

Surf’s Up – Building a Surfboard

Cody is getting ready for his first big competition with his mentor “Big Z,” but it turns out to be more difficult than he thought. Cody has gotten his hands on some koa board, the very best wood for building surfboards. In this scene, Cody is frustrated with how long it’s taking Big Z to build the board. Time is one of our many scarce resources, and Cody doesn’t feel like he has time to waste by slowly building this surfboard. He’s running out of time and needs to get it done much quicker.

Thanks to Amanda Mandzik for the scene recommendation

0

Surf’s Up – Wasted Day

A surfing penguin currently riding the wave of success enters his first professional competition. In this scene, Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf) spends his day making a board that he thinks will help him win the contest, but things aren’t looking too good. His mentor reminds him it’s supposed to be fun, but Cody reminds him know he doesn’t have time for fun. We all face a limit on our resources, which economists refer to as the scarcity principle. As a result, we have to make decisions about how we allocate those resources.

Thanks to Amanda Mandzik for the scene recommendation!

0

Futurama — A Can of Old Fish

The gang heads to get some pizza and Fry wants his friends to experience anchovies, a type of small, salted fish. It turns out that these small fish were overfished and the population collapsed. Zoidberg even mentions how sorry he was that his people kept consuming them because they didn’t realize they were a common resource, subject to the tragedy of the commons.

Fry is incredibly rich, and wishes he could bring them back. He at first notes that even incredibly wealthy people aren’t able to purchase everything. At an auction, he finds that there is exactly one can left in the known universe and decides to bid all of his money for the “can of old fish”

While we normally wouldn’t pass judgement on someone’s preferences, it’s hard not to believe that this could a good example of a winner’s curse. Fry’s willingness to pay for the can of fish may not be $50 million, but the utility from winning the auction could be worth that.

Thanks to Jessica Pritchard for the clip suggestion!

0

Count of Monte Cristo — What is Economics?

In the Count of Monte Cristo, our young protagonist decides to use his down time to train. He sharpens his mind *and his body. He studies different disciplines and, in this particular scene, he gives the definition of economics.

Thanks to Adrian Fohr for the clip and the description!

1

Futurama — Fishful of Dollars

We can see economic concepts throughout the episode when Fish learns that he is rich because of a small savings account he opened 1000 years ago. Thanks to interest rates, his money has grown to billions. When Fish and his friends try to order a pizza, he finds out that anchovies no longer exist because of overfishing when humans arrived on the planet. Zoidberg notes that his people killed the anchovies because they always believed one more wouldn’t have an impact.

0

Up ↑