Thursday, December 2, 2010

How Many Economists Does It Take to Clean a Microwave?

So it looks like from an e-mail I got our cleaning services people won't clean the microwave in our departmental common area. The question then becomes.

How Many Economists Does It Take to Clean a Microwave?

Answers (in jest):
None, if it was optimal to clean the microwave one would have already done it.

One, once the dirtiness level surpasses the economist with the lowest threshold they will clean it themselves creating a public good.

Two, one to clean it and the other to point out that the other does not have a comparative advantage in cleaning.

Never more than three because there are diminishing returns to labor when cleaning a microwave




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