2014-12-29
Original: 2014-12-29 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (narration box): In economics, there is a concept called "Dollar Auction."
Professor (a woman with dark hair, gesturing): You auction a dollar. The winner and runner-up both pay the amount that they bid for the dollar.
Panel 2 (narration box): This leads to a surprising result.
Man (with light hair): I've bid 99 cents, and he's bid $1.00. So... if I give up, I lose 99 cents. But, if I bid $1.01, and win, I only lose a cent! So... I should keep bidding.
Panel 3 (narration box): The point of the concept is to illustrate that rational choices can lead to irrational behavior.
Woman: If I lose, I'm out infinity dollars. But if I win, I'm only out infinity-minus-one dollars.
Panel 4 (narration box): But sometimes I wonder about its applications in real life.
Man: I'll wait for my spouse to call off the marriage. That'll be easier.
Woman (looking annoyed): ...
Votey:
Economics: Surprised that people are dumb since 1848.
Professor (a woman with dark hair, gesturing): You auction a dollar. The winner and runner-up both pay the amount that they bid for the dollar.
Panel 2 (narration box): This leads to a surprising result.
Man (with light hair): I've bid 99 cents, and he's bid $1.00. So... if I give up, I lose 99 cents. But, if I bid $1.01, and win, I only lose a cent! So... I should keep bidding.
Panel 3 (narration box): The point of the concept is to illustrate that rational choices can lead to irrational behavior.
Woman: If I lose, I'm out infinity dollars. But if I win, I'm only out infinity-minus-one dollars.
Panel 4 (narration box): But sometimes I wonder about its applications in real life.
Man: I'll wait for my spouse to call off the marriage. That'll be easier.
Woman (looking annoyed): ...
Votey:
Economics: Surprised that people are dumb since 1848.
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic about the economics concept of the "Dollar Auction." Panel 1: A narration box reads "In economics, there is a concept called 'Dollar Auction.'" A dark-haired woman explains that you auction a dollar, and both the winner and runner-up pay the amount they bid. Panel 2: "This leads to a surprising result." A light-haired man reasons that since he's bid 99 cents and another has bid $1.00, giving up loses him 99 cents, but bidding $1.01 and winning only loses a cent, so he should keep bidding. Panel 3: "The point of the concept is to illustrate that rational choices can lead to irrational behavior." A woman says that if she loses she's out infinity dollars, but if she wins she's only out infinity-minus-one dollars. Panel 4: "But sometimes I wonder about its applications in real life." A man says he'll wait for his spouse to call off the marriage because that'll be easier, while a woman beside him stares with an annoyed silence. Votey (aftercomic): A hand-drawn box with the text "Economics: Surprised that people are dumb since 1848."
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.