Economics 101 and “The Wire”

Call me late to the party but I just started watching Season 1 of HBO’s riveting crime series The Wire and am now understanding why it is one of the most beloved shows ever made.

One episode struck me as oddly, and amusingly, relevant as Stringer Bell is seen scolding some of his underlings in their “legit” print & copy shop.  When asked about order fulfillment issues his employees state that they didn’t care if the customer complained and Stringer promptly scolds them and explains how they have an “elastic product” – meaning there are plenty of competitors to their copy shop and they all have substitute products to which customers can easily switch if they are dissatisfied.

Stringer Bell Explaining to his minions about Demand Elasticity 

This is a great example of demand elasticity which my classmates and I just studied a few months ago in business school.  It’s always fun to have a real-world application of a subject which all too often remains theoretical and mysterious. There are some key lessons to take away from The Wire (aka: the original Khan Academy)

Volvo Trucks – The Epic Split feat. Van Damme

Video

Of all the things Volvo OR Jean Claude Van Damme have ever done this collaboration between the “maker of safe cars” and the “Muscles from Brussels” is THE best.

The camerawork, the voiceover, and the music are so hilarious and awesome at the same time.

Also, if you haven’t seen JCVD, Van Damme’s fiction movie where he plays a version of himself (experiencing all the professional pains of an aging action star) I would recommend it. He definitely shows his acting chops.

Here are a few minutes of the film and a pretty detailed review.

http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s2527158.htm

LinkedIn: Associating Another Email Address to your Profile

At times you may want to consolidate your work & personal email addresses with LinkedIn (especially if you receive an invite from a contact at your unassociated email address and cannot add them properly).

 

Log into LinkedIn

  1. Go to Profile > Edit Profile
  2. under your photo click Edit Contact Info
  3. Next to your Email address click the pencil (edit) icon
  4. An Add & change email address window will pop up > Add your unassociated email address 
  5. You will then get a confirmation email sent to the newly added address.  In the email click the link for confirmation.