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Craig has to keep it together in the face of very strange requests during his interview to be the sommelier for Tom’s Bistro. While professional sommelier’s are known for being able to pair wines and meals, they must maintain their composure when customers ask for something different. While some may have odd preferences, its important to respect others’ utility functions.
See more: behavioral, preferences, subjective value, utility, utility maximization
Leslie is a workaholic, so when the office starts to get sick she gets a bit nervous. When Andy starts showing symptoms of the flu, she realizes he may be contagious. Jerry has already been quarantined because of his symptoms.
See more: command and control, externalities, flu season, negative externalities, role of government, social costs
Ben and Tom aren’t happy with the high tent prices and add-ons at one tent rental shop, so they try to go to a competitor only to find that all of the tent rental places have the same owner who is happy to exploit his market power. While the owner tries to differentiate their product through branding, they have essentially monopolized central Indiana’s tent rental industry.
See more: branding, horizontal mergers, market power, market structures, marketing, monopolistic competition, monopoly, product differentiation
Leslie shares her opinion that a vendor at the farmers’ market has a crude display, and cites this as a reason to kick them out. Some citizens argue that government should not play an active role in dictating norms in society, but Leslie feels that’s the part of the government’s responsibility. This could be argued from a public choice perspective or as the role of government in correcting externalities.
See more: command and control, externalities, government regulation, negative externalities, normative statements, role of government, social costs
Ann and Chris decide not to buy an engagement ring because they think it is an unnecessary expense when they could do other things with the money. Engagement rings are often considered signals in the dating market that one partner is unavailable. The couple watching the exchange realize they could buy a house instead of buying a ring.
See more: opportunity costs, preferences, signalling, tradeoffs
Dr. Jamm bought a cooktop table from Benihana for $4,000 and thinks it is worth every penny. While Leslie and Chris may not place the same value on the table, Jamm’s subjective value is at least $4000.
See more: consumer surplus, demand, intrinsic value, luxury goods, preferences, status good, subjective value, value, willingness to buy
Ben was fired from public service, but eventually accepted a job at an accounting firm. He’s had a week off in between jobs and decided to spend this free time creating a complex board game called the Cones of Dunshire.
See more: entrepreneurship, funemployment, intertemporal substitution, leisure
Ron’s chair becomes popular after being featured in Bloosh, and Annabelle wants to talk about licensing his designs and scaling up production. Instead of having each handmade by Ron Swanson, they can be mass-produced by foreign labor.
See more: demand shifts, economies of scale, luxury goods, outsourcing, preferences, product differentiation, subjective value
Local restaurants are now offering giant sodas, filled with sugar. The child-sized soda is actually the size of a small child! Leslie proposes a soda tax to cut back on citizen’s consuming the sugary beverages, but a representative of the Pawnee Restaurant Association warns Leslie against doing so. Because this will limit the number of sodas being sold, restaurants may have to layoff up to 100 workers and Leslie will be the one to blame.
See more: deadweight loss, labor, labor demand, layoffs, price controls, taxes, unemployment, unintended consequences
Leslie is accused of stripping people’s personal freedoms, but there are significant benefits to the community. According to Leslie, obesity is down, test scores are up, and raccoon attacks have decreased, but some citizens aren’t happy with the changes. When determining the appropriate level of government regulation, the costs and benefits of each action need to be considered, which is easier said than done.
See more: choice architect, choices, externalities, government regulation, negative externalities, nudge, rational choice, role of government, social benefits, social costs
Economics of Parks & Recreation 