National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – Holding Out for Management

In this scene from Christmas Vacation, Clark is surprised to learn that Cousin Eddie hasn’t bought any Christmas presents. When he asks about Eddie’s job situation, Ellen shares that he heard Eddie has been out of work for a while. Not because jobs aren’t available, but because he’s waiting for a management position to open up.

This clip offers a great example of frictional unemployment, the kind of unemployment that arises when individuals are between jobs or selectively searching for a new position that better matches their preferences or skills. Eddie’s decision to wait for a specific type of job, despite other jobs being available, shows how personal expectations and job search behavior affect labor market outcomes.

Thanks to Brian O’Roark for the recommendation!

2025 0

Napoleon Dynamite — Skills

When introducing the different types of unemployment, it is important to discuss the necessity for needed skills. This short clip will start that discussion and hopefully stick with students!

Thanks to James Tierney and description!

2018 0

Adam Ruins Everything — Unemployment Rate

Adam Ruins Everything is a half-hour informational comedy were host, Adam Conover, debunks popular myths. Each episode is divided into 3 segments with some common theme. In the Spring of 2018, James Tierney and I sat down to go through all three seasons of Adam Ruins Everything to pick out examples in each episode that could be used in an economics course. If you’re curious about the paper, you can read about it here.

Adam reviews the requirements for individuals to be considered unemployment under the most traditional classification of unemployment (U3). While he mentions that this isn’t a perfect measure, he doesn’t mention the other types of unemployment. This could be a good introduction to the different types of unemployment counted by the BLS.

2017 1