1. Why do exotic dancers get paid more than teachers?
Bell Ringer
Why do exotic dancers get paid more than teachers?

2. Economic Way of Thinking
aka, Cash Rules Everything Around Me

3. Core Economic Principles
Economics is the study of human choice.
Nothing is the way it is just because that’s how it is!
Human choice occurs because of a scarcity of resources.

4. Core Economic Principles
2. All choices involve costs.
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
Cost is more than just monetary costs (there are social costs, health costs, time costs, etc.)

5. Core Economic Principles
3. People respond to incentives in predictable ways.
Incentives are actions, awards, or rewards that determine the choices people make. Incentives can be positive or negative.
When incentives change, people change their behaviors in predictable ways.

6. Core Economic Principles
4. Supply and demand is at the heart of the market economy.
The Laws of Demand and Supply can explain most behavior in the market, including the availability and price of goods and services.

7. Core Economic Principles
5. The consequences of our choices lie in the future, and are mostly unpredictable.
Humans falsely believe we can fully control the world around us.
Our intervention in complex systems often creates undesirable outcomes.

8. Why is there Braille on drive-thru ATMs?
Economic Enigma
Why is there Braille on drive-thru ATMs?

9. Economic Enigma
Why do most stores place men’s fashion on the lower floors and women’s fashion on the higher floors?

10. Why is there a “best by” date on our food?
Economic Enigma
Why is there a “best by” date on our food?

11. Economic Enigma
Why are DVDs sold in larger packages than CDs when the disc is the same size?

12. Why do people pay $200 for Nike shoes?
Economic Enigma
Why do people pay $200 for Nike shoes?

13. Why are class rings so expensive?
Economic Enigma
Why are class rings so expensive?

14. C.R.E.A.M.
Working by yourself or with a partner, pose and answer your own economic enigma.
Why is something the way it is?
Use your enigma as the title of paper and respond to it in a 3-5 sentence paragraph.

15. Other Economic Enigmas
Concert ticket prices
Food at the airport
Violence in the media
Electric cars
Male vs. female models
Expensive clothing brands
Product placement in stores
Bottled water
New cell phones
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Gas prices
$0.99
Private prisons