In searching for something interesting to talk about- since in all honesty economics isn’t my cup of tea- I came across the YouTube channel of Jacob Clifford. On this channel Clifford explains economic topics using popular movies as a reference (Here’s the link to his playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1oDmcs0xTD9Aig5cP8_R1gzq-mQHgcAH ). The first video uses the original Star Wars trilogy to explain the concepts of scarcity and exchange in the market. One of his other videos looks at the Pixar movie Monster’s Inc. Before watching the video, I wanted to see if I could pull out an economic theme in this movie on my own.
I think the most obvious economic theme in Monster Inc. is the idea of running out of resources. The resource in question is power. The monsters get power from the screams of children, but it is becoming harder to scare children, making it harder to get power. At first, they think the solution is to get scarier monsters working on the scare floor or promote the monsters to do better. Randall’s solution is to force screams out of the children. However, neither of these solutions are the most effective or ethical. In class we watched a video titled Are Running Out of Resources? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcWkN4ngR2Y&t=23s In this the speaker makes the point: the problem isn’t so much running out of resources as it is having the knowledge to use resources more efficiently and knowledge of using substitutes for limited resources. The same ideas are present in Monster’s Inc. Over the course of the movie the monsters learn that the laughter from a child is a far more efficient energy source that their fear. While fear was an effective resource to generate power, the monsters were “running out” because they did not know that a better substitute existed. So, one economic lesson in Monster’s Inc. is that when it seems resources are in short supply it is important to look elsewhere for more effective solutions.
The side of this that is not directly stated in the movie is the effects that less power being generated has on the other citizens in the monster world. Some of the most likely effects would be the cost of electric bills increasing. Another possibility is a salary difference between workers on the scare floor. Highly productive workers like Sully and Randall may be paid more than the less productive workers.
So, that’s my take on economics in Monster’s Inc. I’d be interested to know if anyone has a different take or anything to add.
One could say and we have not discussed this yet, that when they discover the power of laughter, it is an entrepreneurial moment, a new resource has been discovered.
Hey Faith,
I like your usage of analyzing film for projects. That tends to be one of my favorite ways to keep classes interesting when I'm able to do that. One of my favorite things about Monsters Inc. was how they combated the concept of scarcity. Many people prescribe to a Malthusian view of economics. It is common for people to explain today that we have a population issue and we will one day not be able to support our population. I was glad to see that the solution to scarcity in Monsters Inc. was through competition in the workforce that led to another resource competing for the main production of energy. I tend to believe that in an economic crisis people will innovate to provide for the needs of people. Today people believe the solution is to get the government involved. If the government had gotten involved in this universe they would've mandated that companies would sell resources to the factories at cheaper prices, or the factories would be required to sell energy at lower prices making it impossible for them to sustain themselves. The government would also focus on how to spend more time incentivizing the inefficient source of energy, while in a free market the new form of energy can easily enter the market and rise to popularity.