{"id":185,"date":"2026-05-04T10:36:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?p=185"},"modified":"2026-05-04T10:36:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T14:36:25","slug":"humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Despite rumors to the contrary,\u00a0economists have long had a sense of humor.\u00a0In 1849,\u00a0Thomas Carlyle\u00a0called economics\u00a0\u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/cruel.org\/econthought\/texts\/carlyle\/carlodnq.html\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">the dismal science<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201d to mock economists for opposing slavery. The phrase lost its pro-slavery\u00a0origins\u00a0and came to\u00a0mock economists\u2019\u00a0miserable\u00a0focus on scarcity and trade-offs.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat\u00a0wrote the Candlemakers\u2019 Petition (1845)\u00a0as a satire where candlemakers ask the government to block sunlight to\u00a0help them\u00a0sell more candles.\u00a0The essay\u00a0highlights how protectionism harms consumers by favoring producers at their expense.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">John Maynard Keynes was not only a\u00a0famous\u00a0economist but also known for his sharp wit.\u00a0Keynes joked, \u201cIn the long run we are all dead,\u201d criticizing\u00a0too little focus on the here and now.\u00a0He also said, \u201cIf you owe your bank a hundred pounds, you have a problem; if you owe a million, it has.\u201d\u00a0To Keynes&#8217;\u00a0first quip,\u00a0Murray Rothbard\u00a0responded: \u201cKeynes is dead and we are\u00a0in\u00a0the long\u00a0run.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/journal.apee.org\/2023_Journal_of_Private_Enterprise_Vol_38_No_3_Fall_parte4\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Michael Munger<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0argues that economist jokes\u00a0serve three purposes: to be funny, to illustrate economic concepts, and to mock economists themselves.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Two economists see\u00a0a Ferrari. One says, \u201cI really want one of those.\u201d The other replies,\u00a0\u201cApparently, you don\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0Non-economists often\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0get it,\u00a0but\u00a0the point is:\u00a0If you\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0bought it, you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0really want it.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Behavior economists often tend to value only observable data and are wary of self-reported data. Mocking this idea is the joke: two behavioral economists are romantic partners in a hotel room. \u201cDarling,\u201d says one, \u201cI\u00a0observed\u00a0that that was wonderful for you. How was it for me?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">An economist and a friend are walking along the street. The friend spots\u00a0a $100 bill on the sidewalk.\u00a0The economist responds,\u00a0\u201cThat can\u2019t happen;\u00a0someone would have picked it up.\u201d\u00a0The friend pockets the $100, and the economist excitedly responds:\u00a0\u201cSee, I told you no $100 bills anywhere in sight.\u201d\u00a0The joke is that economists focus on equilibrium situations where people have already taken advantage of profit-making opportunities.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Though economists often agree on many things, there is much disagreement,\u00a0as\u00a0evidenced\u00a0by the jokes. \u201cIf all the economists in the world were laid end to end, they would never reach a conclusion.\u201d\u00a0And,\u00a0President Truman once said that he wanted a one-handed economic adviser. Why? Because the economists giving him economic advice always said: \u201cOn the one hand . . .\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Economic jokes are not just\u00a0funny,\u00a0they also teach and critique.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite rumors to the contrary,\u00a0economists have long had a sense of humor.\u00a0In 1849,\u00a0Thomas Carlyle\u00a0called economics\u00a0\u201cthe dismal science\u201d to mock economists for opposing slavery. The phrase lost its pro-slavery\u00a0origins\u00a0and came to\u00a0mock economists\u2019\u00a0miserable\u00a0focus on scarcity and trade-offs.\u00a0 Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat\u00a0wrote the Candlemakers\u2019 Petition (1845)\u00a0as a satire where candlemakers ask the government to block sunlight to\u00a0help them\u00a0sell more candles.\u00a0The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[1661,1344,1659,1663,272,1662,1272,1660,609,842],"class_list":["post-185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","tag-bastiat","tag-behavioral-economics","tag-economic-humor","tag-economic-theory","tag-incentives","tag-keynes","tag-protectionism","tag-satire","tag-scarcity","tag-trade-offs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite rumors to the contrary,\u00a0economists have long had a sense of humor.\u00a0In 1849,\u00a0Thomas Carlyle\u00a0called economics\u00a0\u201cthe dismal science\u201d to mock economists for opposing slavery. The phrase lost its pro-slavery\u00a0origins\u00a0and came to\u00a0mock economists\u2019\u00a0miserable\u00a0focus on scarcity and trade-offs.\u00a0 Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat\u00a0wrote the Candlemakers\u2019 Petition (1845)\u00a0as a satire where candlemakers ask the government to block sunlight to\u00a0help them\u00a0sell more candles.\u00a0The [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Econ Briefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-04T14:36:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"christianhartselle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"christianhartselle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"christianhartselle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622\"},\"headline\":\"Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-04T14:36:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":416,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Bastiat\",\"behavioral economics\",\"economic humor\",\"economic theory\",\"incentives\",\"Keynes\",\"protectionism\",\"satire\",\"scarcity\",\"trade-offs\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\",\"name\":\"Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-04T14:36:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Econ Briefs\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622\",\"name\":\"christianhartselle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"christianhartselle\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/author\\\/christianhartselle\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs","og_description":"Despite rumors to the contrary,\u00a0economists have long had a sense of humor.\u00a0In 1849,\u00a0Thomas Carlyle\u00a0called economics\u00a0\u201cthe dismal science\u201d to mock economists for opposing slavery. The phrase lost its pro-slavery\u00a0origins\u00a0and came to\u00a0mock economists\u2019\u00a0miserable\u00a0focus on scarcity and trade-offs.\u00a0 Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat\u00a0wrote the Candlemakers\u2019 Petition (1845)\u00a0as a satire where candlemakers ask the government to block sunlight to\u00a0help them\u00a0sell more candles.\u00a0The [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","og_site_name":"Econ Briefs","article_published_time":"2026-05-04T14:36:25+00:00","author":"christianhartselle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"christianhartselle","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/"},"author":{"name":"christianhartselle","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#\/schema\/person\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622"},"headline":"Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz","datePublished":"2026-05-04T14:36:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/"},"wordCount":416,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["Bastiat","behavioral economics","economic humor","economic theory","incentives","Keynes","protectionism","satire","scarcity","trade-offs"],"articleSection":["Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","name":"Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-05-04T14:36:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#\/schema\/person\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2026\/05\/04\/humor-with-a-point-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Humor with a Point\u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/","name":"Econ Briefs","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#\/schema\/person\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622","name":"christianhartselle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"christianhartselle"},"url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/author\/christianhartselle\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}