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

About Us
This weblog offers a variety of song lyrics that instructors of economics may find useful in teaching economics. Each post includes a selection from the song's lyrics and a brief assignment for students. This site has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Economic Education.

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  • If you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact us. We can be reached at:
  • joshua.c.hall-at-gmail-dot-com
  • rlawson-at-capital-dot-edu
  • dmateer-at-psu-dot-edu
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"L" Archives

My Summer Vacation - Ice Cube

JEL: k l     

Damn G, the spot's gettin hot
So how the f*** am I supposed to make a knot?
Police looking at n***** through a microscope
In L.A. everybody and they momma sell dope
They trying to stop it
So what the f*** can I do to make a profit?
Catch a flight to St. Louis
That's cool, cause nobody knew us

Full Lyrics · Click to Listen

Assignment:

In “My Summer Vacation,” Ice Cube describes selling drugs in St. Louis. Why were financial profits so much higher in St. Louis in the short-run than in Los Angeles? What happened to the profitability (loosely defined) of this activity in the long-run? Does the illegality of the market change anything about the incentives to enter and the required profit rates needed to stay in business?

By: Joshua Hall
03.20.07 · Permalink
Keywords: · · · ·
"L" Archives

The Way It Is / Changes - Bruce Hornsby / Tupac Shakur

JEL: a d l   

The Way It Is (1986) – Bruce Hornsby


They say hey little boy you can't go
Where the others go
'Cause you don't look like they do
Said hey old man how can you stand
To think that way
Did you really think about it
Before you made the rules
He said, Son


That's just the way it is
Some things will never change
That's just the way it is
But don't you believe them


and the remake, Changes by Tupac Shakur (1999)


Come on come on
I see no changes. Wake up in the morning and I ask myself,
"Is life worth living? Should I blast myself?"
I'm tired of bein' poor and even worse I'm black.
My stomach hurts, so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch.
Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero.
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares? One less hungry mouth on the welfare.
First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers.
Give 'em guns, step back, and watch 'em kill each other.
"It's time to fight back", that's what Huey said.
2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead.
I got love for my brother, but we can never go nowhere
unless we share with each other. We gotta start makin' changes.
Learn to see me as a brother 'stead of 2 distant strangers.
And that's how it's supposed to be.
How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?
I'd love to go back to when we played as kids,
but things change, and that's the way it is.


(full lyrics)

Full Lyrics · Click to Listen

Assignment:

Bruce Hornsby’s original lyrics point to discrimination as a fact of life. Tupac added his own take on the issue of discrimination when he made the claim that “the way it is” forces black society to make poor choices just to survive. How do markets combat discrimination? Do markets reward businesses that discriminate or are they penalized? What happens to the profits of a business if it decides not to hire a qualified worker based on their race?

By: Dirk Mateer
06. 2.06 · Permalink
Keywords: · · · ·
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