A joke about economists

Two economists were walking down the street one day when they passed two large piles of dog poop. The first economist said to the other, “I’ll pay you $20,000 to eat one of those piles of shit.” The second one agrees and chooses one of the piles and eats it. The first economist pays him his $20,000.

Then the second economist says, “I’ll pay you $20,000 to eat the other pile of shit.” The first one says okay, and eats the shit. The second economist pays him the $20,000.

They resume walking down the street.

After a while, the second economist says, “You know, I don’t feel very good. We both have the same amount of money as when we started. The only difference is we’ve both eaten shit.”

The first economist says: “Ah, but you’re ignoring the fact that we’ve engaged in $40,000 worth of trade!”

Today is the 79th anniversary of the repeal of alcohol Prohibition. On this day I give you, not only the beautiful image above, but also this list, via the Economic Freedom blog, of items that the government still prohibits. I would probably add Buckyballs to the list.

Here is a link to a larger version of the image. 

I demand the right to bear nukes!

Social contract? What social contract?