“Apparently, You Don’t”: Economist Jokes as an Educational Tool

This paper addresses the growing literature on the comparative statics of rhetorical equilibrium, using humor as the animating device that corrodes existing norms for understanding the commercial system. Three motivations for economics jokes are advanced: to be funny, to illustrate, and to mock. A simple model of humor is advanced, with three independent variables—whether the joke is funny, insightful, or accurately mocking—that are argued to generate different levels of amusement, the dependent variable. One conclusion is that jokes economists tell each other, jokes economists tell outsiders, and jokes outsiders tell themselves about economists have different mixes of the essential arguments of the amusement function.

Duke Scholars

Author Michael C. Munger Political Science