This video should be shown in every economics class in the country

[Teo9969]

I guffawed at the ending.

[gopokes88]

I want those 4 minutes back. That has nothing to do with economics.

[Teo9969]

Sure it does…it shows how important establishing competitive advantage is.

It also does a good job of showing just how many components create something as simple as a sandwich.

[gopokes88]

Sure it does…it shows how important establishing competitive advantage is.

It also does a good job of showing just how many components create something as simple as a sandwich.

No this is economics. http://youtu.be/g9aDizJpd_s

What you posted is some dumb hipster wasting $1500 and 6 months of his life trying to pretend he's a farmer and chef using "all natural" ingredients only to be let down.

[SouthSide]

It makes you appreciate modern conveniences and even the unhip okc grocery stores. Six months for a truly from scratch sandwich and the verdict is "not bad." Thanks for sharing!

[Ginkasa]

No this is economics. http://youtu.be/g9aDizJpd_s

What you posted is some dumb hipster wasting $1500 and 6 months of his life trying to pretend he's a farmer and chef using "all natural" ingredients only to be let down.

You don't think he didn't have that ending in mind when he started the project? While I agree this doesn't have much to do with "economics," I think it is at least worth an intentionally elicited chuckle and could potentially be construed as effective satire against the "dumb hipsters" you're referring to.

[gopokes88]

You don't think he didn't have that ending in mind when he started the project? While I agree this doesn't have much to do with "economics," I think it is at least worth an intentionally elicited chuckle and could potentially be construed as effective satire against the "dumb hipsters" you're referring to.

No I saw that coming.

It's a ok video, it's more trying to say this is an amazing economics video that should be taught in every class that's dumb.

Heck Teo didn't even know the potential lesson would be economies of scale, not competitive advantage.

[Teo9969]

No I saw that coming.

It's a ok video, it's more trying to say this is an amazing economics video that should be taught in every class that's dumb.

Heck Teo didn't even know the potential lesson would be economies of scale, not competitive advantage.

To really teach economies of scale in the same situation, he would have needed to have 15 farms, 35 cows, brought home 2,000 gallons of water to turn into salt, have a chicken farm of 500 chickens, etc. and he would have needed to hire people to manage all of those things so that instead of costing $1500 for one sandwich (he probably got more like 10 - 25 sandwiches out of the deal), he would have spent $30,000 for 1,500 sandwiches.

But sure, economies of scale is indeed part of the point of the video. But so would be focusing on one thing and doing it so well that instead of providing the best sandwich, you provide the best cheese for that sandwich. The overarching point of the video is that effective economy relies on efficiency, which can occur by both economies of scale, competitive advantage, the labor market etc.

And you show it not because it directly teaches those principles to the students, but because it forces their minds to be creative and extrapolate the principles and understand a posteriori instead of a priori, which is for many people, a far more effective manner of learning.

[gopokes88]

To really teach economies of scale in the same situation, he would have needed to have 15 farms, 35 cows, brought home 2,000 gallons of water to turn into salt, have a chicken farm of 500 chickens, etc. and he would have needed to hire people to manage all of those things so that instead of costing $1500 for one sandwich (he probably got more like 10 - 25 sandwiches out of the deal), he would have spent $30,000 for 1,500 sandwiches.

But sure, economies of scale is indeed part of the point of the video. But so would be focusing on one thing and doing it so well that instead of providing the best sandwich, you provide the best cheese for that sandwich. The overarching point of the video is that effective economy relies on efficiency, which can occur by both economies of scale, competitive advantage, the labor market etc.

And you show it not because it directly teaches those principles to the students, but because it forces their minds to be creative and extrapolate the principles and understand a posteriori instead of a priori, which is for many people, a far more effective manner of learning.

You really don't know much about economics do you?

Competitive advantage would have required another dumb hipster making a sandwich in a showdown of dumb hipsters making sammichs. Except maybe the 2nd hipster lives near a salt field, he can then save $500 on flights and doesn't have to boil any water so he can sell his sandwich for $1000. His competitive advantage is that he can acquire the raw materials cheaper and therefore sell the sandwich cheaper. Or if he had a patent that limited the other hipster. To be competitive, you have to actually be competing against someone.

What you were originally trying to say was economies of scale. The guy spent $1500 on a sandwich that took 6 months because he isn't a sandwich artist and therefore can't get his price down. The video shows how important scale is, the video doesn't really show competitive advantage is, video doesn't provide any frame of reference relative to other sandwiches. Does his ocean salt taste better? Is his wheat GMO? Does that GMO variety taste good? What elevation did he bake the bread at? How much water did he give the wheat? Did that effect taste? None of those are answered so we don't know what his advantage would be, and the video doesn't even know those are issues. (Mainly because its not an economic video, it's a comedy bit) In every economics class I've ever taken, they give you the situation and ask to go from there, they don't leave big open ended questions and what ifs.

There is a whole lot better ways to illustrate economics, and given the fact there's very little time given to the study to it in school, this shouldn't be taught in class, it's too vague and actually more of a comedy bit. (Turns out good food requires more then just all natural ingredients)

[Martin]