From ABBA to Led Zeppelin: using music to teach economics
From ABBA to Led Zeppelin: using music to teach economics

Main · Next »

Downeaster Alexa - Billy Joel

JEL: a d h   

Now I drive my Downeaster "Alexa"
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck in swordfishing here.

I was a bayman like my father was before
Can't make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me

Click to Listen

Assignment:

What barriers to entry exist in the fishing industry? Are these barriers significant enough to create firm-specific pricing power? Ocean waters also present a common property problem. If competitors in the fishing industry cannot prevent new entrants into the market and all of the competitors fish the same waters, what are the prospects for long-run profits?

Full Lyrics


(Many lyrics sites employ pop-up and pop-under ads,
click the above link at your own risk.)