Issue 9, Spring 1995

William A. McEachern, Editor

The Evidence File

As economists, we tend to think economics can be found almost anywhere. Here are someeconomic ideas I gleaned from Shakespeare's plays. Match the economic ideawith the quote listed below. My answers follow. Let your students take acrack at the list.

Economic Idea

__ Inelastic demand

__ Principal-agent problem

__ Diminishing marginal utility

__ Sunk cost

__ Value of job opportunity

__ Rate of time preference

__ Power of financial incentives

Shakespearean Quote

1. "Things without all remedy should be without regard: what's done is done."
   
   Macbeth
   

   "By and by is easily said."
   

   Hamlet
   

   "Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back when gold and silver becks me to comeon."
   

   King John
   

   "You take my life when you take the means whereby I live."
   

   The Merchant of Venice
   

   "When rich villains have need of poor ones, poor ones may make what price theywill."
   

   Much Ado About Nothing
   

   "If all the year were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work."

   Henry IV
   

   "Let every eye negotiate for itself, and trust no agent."
   

   Much Ado About Nothing

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