Microeconomics, Losing Weight, and Monkey Money

About a week ago I made a post describing how the Hawaii trip incentive spilled over to my boys and they became ‘encouragers’ to my wife. I wasn’t sure what the name of this unintended effect was, but I stumbled across the answer in that same SuperFreakonomics book. Economists call it a ‘positive externality’, where beneficial effects of something are shared by others who are not necessarily involved. It’s kind of the opposite of, say, having gas from that burrito you ate at lunch. You not only stink up the area for you, but also for everyone else nearby. That’s would be called a negative externality. So the moral of today’s economics lesson is to eat your burritos late in the day.

On a related note, I finished reading that book and I’d like to take a minute to thank the authors. There’s a story at the very end of the book about a researcher who was doing experiments with capuchin monkeys and money. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so let’s just say the monkeys used the money in unexpected says. When I read it I was laughing so hard tears were coming out of my eyes. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed like that. Check it out if you ever have the chance.

Finally, a quick update on the progress of this little project. My wife has continued to be motivated a week later. Yeah, a week isn’t very long, but it beats the 2 days spent on the Martha Stewart cleansing diet. A couple trips to the rec center this week and a couple days of exercising at home by either taking walks or doing hamster exercise on the elliptical machine. So far she’s down about 3 pounds, which isn’t ‘Biggest Loser’ numbers but still a pretty good start.

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