Tag: Seinfeld

Seinfeld — Soup Nazi

 

Superior products can provide companies with a short term barrier to entry in a market, but they aren’t usually long lasting. Beyond technological superiority, some companies may have service or quality superiority, as is the case with the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld. Offering a superior product allows the owner to treat customers rudely, offer high prices, and restrict output as he desires.

This clip is available thanks to Economics of Seinfeld.

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Seinfeld — Bottle Arbitrage

Newman gets the bright idea to take bottles from New York (where the deposit refund is 5 cents) and return them in Michigan for 10 cents. Kramer stops him quickly and let’s him know that this isn’t a good idea because he’s not thinking about the costs of transporting them. Newman quickly realizes he can get a truck at no cost from the post office, which makes the arbitrage scheme profitable.

The full clip comes from Economics of Seinfeld.

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Seinfeld — Half a Can of Soda

 

Jerry is tired of how much food Kramer eats and doesn’t pay for, but Kramer has offered to keep a tab for himself and will write down every time he consumes something so he can pay Jerry back. Jerry discovers a half full can of soda in the fridge and asks Kramer if it’s his, but Kramer believes he can purchase just half a can of soda. Jerry has to explain to him that items like soda and fruit have to purchased in discrete units, not continuous units.

Thanks to Daniel Stone for the suggestion!

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