fundamental-3

A six-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: A woman economist with glasses tells a man, "There is one ironclad rule of economics: if you tax something, you get less of it, and if you subsidize something, you get more of it." Panel 2: The man, excited, says, "Really?! I'm gonna try that on my husband!" Panel 3: The man tells his husband, "I'll give you 50 cents every time we have sex," and the husband replies warily, "Uh oh." Panel 4: The man holds up a dollar bill and says, "I'll give you a dollar to not be mad at me." Panel 5, labeled "LATER...": The man reports back to the economist, "Well, he divorced me!" Panel 6: The man insists, "Economics only works on people who believe in economics!" The economist deadpans, "I'll give you 25 cents to change your mind," and he instantly answers, "Done!" Votey panel: The economist pushes further, "Then can I get you down to 24?", beside a loose sketch of the man's face. The joke skewers the idea that crude economic incentives reliably manipulate human behavior—the man both ruins his marriage applying it and immediately falls for the same trick himself.