Redneck EconomicsMike Fladlien

For AliAn application of microeconomics to Duck Dynasty

What is a Redneck?You think "loading the dishwasher" means getting your wife drunk.You ever cut your grass and found a car.

Your boat has not left the drive-way in 15 years.You own a homemade fur coat.

You burn your yard rather than mow it.

Your wife has ever said, "Come move this transmission so I can take a bath."

What is a Redneck?

Are you a Redneck?

You have flowers planted in a bathroom appliance in your front yard.

You go Christmas shopping for your mom, sister, and girlfriend, and you only need to buy one gift. 

There are more than ten lawsuits currently pending against your dog. 

You take a fishing pole to Sea World. 

The hood and one door are a different color from the rest of your car. 

You've ever filled your deer tag on the golf course.

 You've ever shot somebody over a mall parking space. 

Santa Claus refuses to let your kids sit in his lap. 

Your toilet paper has page numbers on it. 

Negative ExternalityIn economics, an externality is the cost or benefit that affects a party who did not choose to incur that cost or benefit.

Leave it to Beavers It's duck blind maintenance time again and the boys have discovered the waterline is low. At the levee, they realize this is the work of Phil's bucktoothed arch nemesis...THE BEAVER.

ModelMSC > MPCThird parties bear the costs

PollutionSecond-hand smokeNoiseGarbageSmell from Hog ContainmentsA dog that barks all nightA beaver dam

Inefficient The state of resource allocation that exists when the highest level of consumer satisfaction is not achieved from available resources. This state occurs in market exchanges if the price buyers are willing and able to pay for a good does not reflect the satisfaction everyone obtains from the consuming the good or if the price sellers need to charge for a good does not reflect all opportunity cost of producing the good.

A Big Duck-ing Call It's the 40-year anniversary of Duck Commander and this celebration is a redneck Robertson style shindig. To top off the event, Willie decides to construct the world's largest duck call to be revealed at the party

InefficientBy making a duck call so big that it required all of the family to work on it, the variable cost raises exponentially. Since no one would buy the duck call the price is zero. You can observe that the cost is greater than the price. In economic terms P < MC.

TechnologyThe sum of the knowledge and information that society has acquired concerning the use of resources in the production of goods and services. Technology often takes the form of scientific knowledge (the best combination of chemicals to make a long-lasting floor wax), but can also be plain old common sense (irrigate during a drought, not during a flood). Whether scientific or common sense, technology affects the technical efficiency with which resources are combined in production.

High Tech Redneck After a big order comes in Willie pushes the Duck Commander team to meet the tight deadline, so Jase and the warehouse guys come up with a plan to build a conveyer belt. Elsewhere, Phil and Si declare war on the beavers whose dams are disrupting the water supply.

Technology and the Supply CurveWhen the supply curve shifts to the right, more can be made at the same price. Technically, a change in technology can be an idea in which more can be done with less or more can be made faster.

Opportunity CostThe highest valued alternative foregone in the pursuit of an activity. Opportunity cost is a one of the most fundamental concepts used in the study of economics. An opportunity cost can be either explicit, usually involving a monetary payment, or implicit, which does not involve a transaction. Opportunity cost is also commonly termed economic cost.

Frog in One Brotherly competition gets the best of Willie when he ditches his kids' career day to go play golf with Jase. Stepping in for Willie, Phil and Si show up at the school and become the teachers' worst nightmare. Later that night, Jase returns to the golf course to hunt the prized bullfrogs he'd seen earlier. Unfortunately for him, country club security is also there.

Opportunity CostWhen Jase and Willie decided to go golfing instead of career day he gave up a lot of utility. Jase and Willie angered the entire family, embarrassed his children, and lost $1,000 per hole.

Remember that costs are both implicit and explicit.

Implicit is the opportunity cost.

Explicit is the money

Positive ExternalityAn action in which benefits spillover to third parties who are neither buyers or sellers of the good.

PLAN BEE While out duck hunting, Willie, Jase, and Uncle Si stumble across what redneck's consider nature's most prized succulent treasure--a beehive dripping with wild honey. Knowing the possibilities are endless for this redneck decadence the men decide to capture the hive.

Strategic InteractionA behavior in which rivals anticipate the actions of rivals. The is the prisoner’s dilemma.

FISHIN’ FOR BUSINESS To prove once and for all who rules the

river AND the boardroom, Willie and Jase revive their childhood rivalry and go head-to-head in a fishing competition with the added challenge of having to sell their catch.

MaximizationMR = MCMRC = MRPMB = MCMSC=MSB

Redneck Roadtrip Jase volunteers to take the Duck Commander RV out on pick up, but neglects to mention to Willie, he's taking Si, Martin and Jep along for a road trip. Back home, Phil and Willie have to use some redneck logic when Miss Kay calls them to get rid of a gator she found in the yard.

Most of Si’s stories you can classify as Si-ence fiction

You need to be able to take a leak in your yard without someone say, “Hey what’s he doing”

I’m as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs

When in doubt figure it out the redneck way

Asymmetrical Information

This is an example of market failure in which one person in a transaction has information that the other doesn’t. In this case, the seller knew that the vineyard didn’t have any grapes.

Sauvignon Beard Willie decides to expand the Duck Commander brand into the winemaking industry and buys a vineyard...sight unseen. While the family is off helping at the vineyard, Phil and Si take over babysitting duties for the granddaughters. Who will prevail?