Question

Identify Economics in action in either a movie or a television show. Explain how that movie (or show) displays one, or several, economic concepts. If this is a movie/show you've seen before, did you recognize the economic concept the first time around, or is it something you realized after taking an economics course.

Answer 1

The topic: a movie

There are few economics in action in a movie. These are as below:

No.1) The theatre owner has to decide how many show times should be allotted to the movie. There can’t be endless show times, because the labor resource is limited.

No.2) if the movie is good, the demand for it would be high. Since supply can’t be increased, it increases price in the black market.

No.3) the choice for the movie would be high if the movie is popular and low if it is unpopular.

No.4) the opportunity cost of watching movie would be low if some other movies are not up to the mark; such opportunity cost would be high if the movie is below par.

No.5) at increasing returns from movie, new staffs could be recruited if needed because there is economics of scale.

Economics concepts connected to the above actions are as below:

No.1) this is the concept of scarcity of resources. It indicates searching for the best within the limited resource.

No.2) this is the demand and supply concept, which makes equilibrium. If demand is higher than supply, the equilibrium would be at higher position because supply can’t be increased in the short-run. It increases ticket price in the hand of blacker.

No.3) this is the concept of choice and it depends on popularity.

No.4) this is the concept of opportunity cost of watching movie. The lower opportunity cost creates comparative advantage.

No.5) this is the concept of economies of diseconomies of scale – more resources would be applied for economies of scale.

I realized all these concepts after going through a class of economics course.