The Economics of The Office
Learning economics from the world's best boss
Textbook Tear
In this silly clip, we see Michael's disdain for economics and traditional learning. Michael abuses the trust of a student in ruining a textbook that clearly has value to the student.
Season 3 Episode 16 "Business School" Caution!
Candy Bars
In this clip, we see that Michael doesn't really understand very much about business or economics but he does have a clever way of explaining his limited knowledge through the use of candy bars!
Season 3 Episode 16 "Business School" Caution!
Pretzel Day 1
Even when something comes at a zero monetary cost it may cost considerable time to get something for "free". How much money would you spend for a pretzel? What is the value of the time that Michael and Stanley are spending standing in line? Is a pretzel really worth that much?
Season 3 Episode 5 "Initiation"
Labor Productivity (J24) Behavioral Economics (D03)
Write That Down
In this clip, Michael tries to explain the concept of profits and business decisions and the demand for paper. Clearly, Michael does not understand how technological changes have influenced demand for paper!
Season 3 Episode 16 "Business School" Caution!
Teaching of Economics (A20) Technological Change (O30)
Pretzel Day 2
Even when something comes at a zero monetary cost it may cost considerable time to get something for "free". How much money would you spend for a pretzel? What is the value of the time that Michael and Stanley are spending standing in line? Is a pretzel really worth that much?
Season 3 Episode 5 "Initiation"
Behavioral Economics (D03) Externalities (D62)
Pretzel Day 3
Even when something comes at a zero monetary cost it may cost considerable time to get something for "free". How much money would you spend for a pretzel? What is the value of the time that Michael and Stanley are spending standing in line? Is a pretzel really worth that much?
Season 3 Episode 5 "Initiation"
Labor Productivity (J24) Behavioral Economics (D03)
Schrute Bucks
In this clip Dwight attempts to use the motivational tool of Schrute Bucks to keep his employees motivated. The problem is even though his “money” is somewhat similar to a dollar in that it has no intrinsic value it also does not have any real buying power. It is not accepted as a good unit of account or a good store of value. This is a good opportunity to talk about the functions of money with a class.
Season 3 Episode 24 "The Job" Caution!
Schrute Bucks Counterfeits
In this scene Creed threatens to devalue Dwight’s currency. This has occurred in Zimbabwe recently and in Germany after World War I just to cite a couple of famous examples.
Monetary Systems (E42) Money Supply (E51)
