Assignment:

Conor Oberst sings about a man who has lost his job and is now doing “anything to serve a function or to occupy some time” because he feels he must make a living somehow. Opportunity costs, as well as marginal costs and benefits must be weighed against each other to decide if the subject has made a rational decision. The lyrics indicate that the cost of his new lifestyle is a loss of income from his day job. The benefits are more leisure time and a new attitude.

Think further on what marginal benefits and the marginal costs might be for the subjects’ change of lifestyle. What are the opportunity costs? Is the subject being a rational decision maker?

Oberst also mentions the man as being in a group of unemployed individuals. One can presume that the subject is working odd jobs, or at the very least not working a stable job. Under these conditions is the subject correctly classified as unemployed?

[Provided by Emillea Cohen, Beloit College]

Assignment:

The subject of the song states that he wants to be a paperback writer but he "needs a job." How would you classify his employment status? Is he unemployed? Actively seeking new work? Do you think self-employment creates a measurement problem for the Bureau of Labor Statistics? Also if it took him "years to write," does this suggest anything about the opportunity cost of his time?

[Provided by Xilong Zhu - Beloit College]

Assignment:

Does money have any intrinsic value? What are the functions of money? How does demand for money affect its supply? How do you think the supply of money versus the supply of diamonds has changed since the since the Beatles wrote this song? What's the reason for the difference? Although money can’t buy love, money can buy a diamond ring. How does the money supply change today if you pay for the diamond ring with credit as opposed to a debit card?

[Provided by Marlie Pykelny - Beloit College]

Assignment:

The speaker is consoling a friend who can’t quite cut it in show business. He makes light of the situation by telling his friend, “You got the kitchen hand job easily/ You'll be king of this here town.”

Is “the friend” better off for taking this job right away and making some money? If this person were to remain unemployed, how long would they be considered part of the workforce? What type of unemployment is this: frictional, structural, cyclical?

[Provided by Shelley Quade - Beloit College]

Assignment:

How does the government calculate the unemployment rate? If Liam Gallagher decides it is not “worth the aggravation to find yourself a job when there’s nothing worth looking for” how does this affect the unemployment rate? Is Liam classified as unemployed? Should he be? What is the number of discouraged workers in the US at the current time (use www.bls.gov)?

[Provided by Simon Medcalfe (Brenau U.)]

Assignment:

Economists use GDP to measure the total production in an economy. Sometimes GDP is used as a measure of well-being. However, as Neil Young points out, GDP is not a perfect measure of well being. For example, it is not adjusted for inequality (the homeless man), crime (a kinder, gentler, machine gun hand), and pollution (Styrofoam boxes for the ozone layer). What other factors affect our well being but are not calculated in GDP? If we included these other factors that affect our well being, does GDP over estimate or underestimate our well being?

[Provided by Simon Medcalfe (Brenau U.)]

Assignment:

Economists divide unemployment into three categories: frictional, structural, and cyclical. What type of unemployment does Bruce Springsteen suffer from? What is today’s unemployment rate? How much of today’s unemployment is frictional unemployment? How much is structural unemployment? How much is cyclical unemployment?

[Provided by Simon Medcalfe (Brenau U.)]

Assignment:

Draw a supply and demand diagram that shows the boss receiving “the lions share bliss” while someone who scrubs floors gets much less. In other words, what factors would affect supply and demand such that CEO’s receive 300 times the compensation of average workers? Are CEO’s paid too much?

[Provided by Simon Medcalfe (Brenau U.)]

Assignment:

In this excerpt, Coolio suggests that he would rap for no money. Draw a representative labor supply curve.

[HT: Julianne Treme]

Assignment:

Thinking like an economist usually involves invoking phrases like 'on the other hand.' This excerpt from Bruce Springsteen's song "Youngstown" suggests that he is owed something for making the plant owners rich. According to economists Paul Gomme and Peter Rupert, labor's share of value-added in the nonfinancial corporate sector is around 74%. Are these perspectives at odds with one another? Please explain.

Assignment:

Billy Joel laments the loss of the way things were in Allentown. At one time it was a boom town, but now "they've taken all the coal from the ground." Assume that the presence of coal is the primary reason Allentown exists at all (like mining towns in the old west). (See here for a more complex history of Allentown). If coal and water access for easy shipping brought people flooding to the area upon its initial discovery, why don't people leave as quickly as they came once the coal is gone? Which do you think will decline faster: population or housing prices? Why? Based on your answer, can it be utility maximizing to stay in a declining city?

Assignment:

Researchers have questioned whether you can design a welfare system that provides a generous safety net, but not so generous that the effective marginal tax rate that the poor face when contemplating leaving welfare is too onerous. Explain why creating the right incentives to get productive people to leave welfare is so difficult.

Assignment:

Losing it all is pretty rare; likewise, striking it rich is rare. But how rare? Go to your textbook or the internet (use a reputable source!) to find out how much income mobility exists in the U.S. economy. How common is it for someone in the top quintile of the income distribution to fall to the bottom quintile within (say) a decade? Is this more income mobility or less than you would have expected? What are some common explanations for such a decline in income?

Assignment:

In this song the maples are upset about the "greedy" oaks and demand equality. Do you see any parallels between this song and policy issues such as anti-discrimination laws, affirmative action, set-asides, etc.? In your discussion be sure to highlight the notions of efficiency and equity/equality and the trade-offs that may exist in achieving these goals.

Assignment:

What does it mean to be 'unemployable'? Is the person who is 'unemployable' more likely to be frictionally unemployed or structurally unemployed? The lyrics state that "this life is sacrifice ... to a stranger's bottom line." To what extent do you think this statement is generalizable? What makes some occupations more rewarding than others?

Assignment:

Lots of people want to be entertainers because they place a high value on fame. What effect might placing a positive value on fame have on wages for the average entertainer? Alabama states "the fruits of their labor are worth more than their pay?" Discuss the correctness of this statement from an economic perspective. Your answer should mention the marginal revenue product of labor.

Assignment:

Boots, the lead rapper in the Coup, is making a social commentary when he says, "If everybody in the hood had a Ph.D., You'd say hey Dr. flip that burger, hell it good for me." In a world where everyone had Ph.D.'s would we observe Dr.'s flipping burgers? What value does a college education provide? Is there such a thing as too much education?

What does Riley mean when he says that "its inflation that's doing this taking?" Taking implies that someone benefits. Who benefits from inflation?