The Smarter Darren Bernard

Oh no, N. Gregory Mankiw, an influential economist whose textbooks are required reading for any aspiring economist, he didn't just apply overly simplistic, non representative Econ 101 models to the labor market, did he? He can tell me the number of recessions that happened due to the countless times Congress have raised minimum wages right? So when prices go up, we buy less huh? How does that explain how my gas tank is still full with $3.00 gas, but my checking account is still considerably empty, huh? They still teach things like "inelastic product" over at Hah-vahd, don't they?

There, you see kids, Ivy League education just doesn't live up to its hype.

Update: Speaking of required reading, paperback books are supposed to be cheaper than hardcovers, right? So who the hell would make money trying to sell a paperback book at $121?

Oh that's right, it's those rip-off artists like Mankiw who call themselves college professors that can command that price, unless their students take that "timeless economic lesson" to heart and simply choose to lower their demand for the textbooks as the prices go up, while maintaining the same equilibrium of grades.

(via Atrios)