Ron is getting audited, so the Parks Department helps him look through receipts to help him. Ron doesn’t believe in banks, so he potentially stores his money around town in the form of gold buried around town.
See more: banks, gold, gold standard, liquidity, medium of exchange, money, money leakages, money supply, store of value
Ben has been invited to help Entertainment 7Twenty evaluate their financial situation. When Ben asks how the Tom and Jean-Ralphio are making money (generating revenue), the two show him the printing press where they create fake money with their logos on it. This money is only good at their parties and the two are attempting to create a small internal economy.
See more: counterfeit money, Federal Reserve, medium of exchange, money, money supply, printing money, store of value
Ron describes a gentleman’s agreement he made with a man to build a dining table in exchange for a 60 feet of copper pipe and a half pig. The barter system is inefficient because of how hard it is to properly measure the trades.
See more: barter system, gains from trade, medium of exchange, store of value, transactions
A young student needs to interview someone for a school project and stumbles upon Ron in the office. Her project is supposed to focus on the role of government in society, which gives Ron the opportunity to share his libertarian views about the government’s purpose. After describing these views, the young student’s parent comes back very unhappy.
See more: efficiency, equity, fairness, role of government, taxes
Ben and Leslie propose a solution to solving the budget crises, but accidentally suggest that all D1 employees (low-level) should be terminated. Because there is a limited amount of funds available in the city budget, any money moving to one department must come at the expense of another department.
See more: federal budget, government spending, opportunity costs, rationing, scarcity, tradeoffs, unintended consequences
Leslie asks a city councilor to not cut the Parks budget 8% and to find the money somewhere else. The counselor decides to propose shutting down the local animal shelter in exchange. Because funding is scarce in the local government, the city councilors have to cut funding in one area to save another department.
See more: budgets, federal budget, government spending, opportunity costs, rationing, scarcity, tradeoffs, unintended consequences
The city is finally removing an old payphone and has decided to complete Indiana’s tiniest park. Leslie believes this investment will attract 5000 visitors to the city who would want to see the “Smallest Park in Indiana.”’
See more: common resources, government spending, growth, investment, technology
Now that the Parks Department is temporarily shut down, Tom starts packing up his office items. With the pending layoff, Tom has the option of seeking out a temporary job or becoming an entrepreneur.
See more: entrepreneurship, government shutdown, job search, layoffs, temp jobs, tradeoffs, unemployment
Pawnee is going through a bit of a budget crises and they have decided to cut the Parks Department budget so that no parks will be open over the summer break. This also means that a previously-planned concert needed to be canceled as well. The citizens of Pawnee want to know what services the government will provide if they are shut down. Ron relishes in the fact that the services aren’t provided.
See more: common resources, government shutdown, government spending, public resources, role of government, types of goods
Pawnee is going through a budget crisis so Leslie and Ron propose a list of budget cuts that they believe will help keep the Parks Department operation. Chris and Ben break the news that the city’s budget is worse than imagined and the government will need to shut down despite their efforts to keep it operating.
See more: bargaining, government shutdown, government spending, tradeoffs
Economics of Parks & Recreation 