conscience

A six-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: A man stands over train tracks where an old lady has dropped a green $100 bill near her feet. He says, "My God, that old lady dropped one hundred dollars! Should I..." Panel 2: A tiny winged angel figure in a yellow dress with a halo appears and says, "Return it to her. It's the right thing to do." Panel 3: A tiny red winged devil figure counters, "Bah! She shouldn't have been so careless! If she lost it so easily, she doesn't deserve it. Go ahead!" Panel 4: The man turns to a small stick figure and asks, "Who are you?" The stick figure replies, "Economist." Panel 5: The economist stick figure declares, "That hundred dollars can't exist. If it were real, someone would've picked it up by now. Move on!" Panel 6: The man protests, "But he can see it," as the angel and devil gesture at the money saying "It's right th-", but the economist cuts in: "Move on!" The joke plays on the economics maxim that there are no $100 bills lying on the ground because the market would have already taken them. Votey panel: An angry round cartoon face shouts, "Stop debating good vs. evil and start optimizing!"