You Don’t Have to Take My Word for It: Reading Rainbow Teaches Economics

I heard on NPR this morning that after 26 years Reading Rainbow is ending its television run. It made me a little sad as it was one of my favorite program growing up.

So I got to looking at YouTube videos of old Reading Rainbow episode to find one that teaches economics. This awesome Flash Dance style video praises the benefits of teamwork. Teamwork is the foundation of Adam Smith’s economic thought. The famous example from his book Wealth of Nations talks about a pin factory, where each worker does a different task. When each worker specializes and works together more gets done.

It doesn’t matter if you are making pins, running a restaurant, fighting fires, or dancing, specialization is a fancy word for teamwork.

But you don’t have to take my word for it: Watch the Video or check out Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.