[1378] Of a gem by Dan Hamermesh

I was wondering how one of my professors is doing these days and so, I looked for him up on the internet. I did not take long for me to rediscover his website. Within the site, I found this gem. Here is a sample of his postings:

September 3, 2007—We took two of the grandchildren to the Schlitterbahn, a very extensive waterpark about one hour away. I spent the morning with the nine-year-old granddaughter going on various rides with her—and standing in lines too. We spent 10 minutes lining up to go on the Black Knight, but then had to spend 60 minutes in line to go on the Wolfpack. We debated whether waiting the 60-minute wait was worth it. The time spent waiting is like a price, so the first trip on the Wolfpack was 6 times as ”expensive” as the 2nd through 7th rides down the Black Knight would have been. So, was the marginal utility of the first Wolfpack trip equal to the marginal utility of the 2nd Knight trip, plus that of the 3rd, 4th, 5th 6th and 7th? My guess is that the marginal utility of additional Knight trips after the 3rd that day is probably zero. Moreover, judging by my granddaughter’s expression of sheer delight once we started down the Wolfpack, the marginal utility of the first Wolfpack trip exceed all the extra utility that would have been generated by 6 additional Knight trips. We made the right choice!

I really like it when he relates economics concepts to his everyday life.

In fact, he should start blogging and concentrate on that theme! I think it would be a popular blog if he gives it a chance.