Money...that is what I want

Inspired by the previous post...

Supply & Demand

I suppose it is about time I jump on the bandwagon of fellow academics applying economics to real life situation. The examples cited in Freakanomics obviously do not apply to me (I'm a dog, names of trailer trash kids, sumo wrestling and abortion rates do not measure up high in my day-to-day worries). However, I've begun to realise that I can apply simple economic fundamentals in my everyday life. It is about time people (and dogs) appreciate how basic economic theory applies to dogs.

First up, Supply and Demand.

This is the very basic of economic theory, the 101 of economics, the "No" and "Sit" equivalent to dogs. This theory is used to determine the price of a goods in a free market. I did a quick search on Wikipedia which gave this definition:

Supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a market. It concludes that in a competitive market, price will function to equalize the quantity demanded by consumers, and the quantity supplied by producers, resulting in an economic equilibrium of price and quantity.

All very well and good but what does this have to with me you ask? Well, in my world I apply this theory *all* the time. I think we can pretty much agree that nothing in life comes free, you have to work (i.e. give something) to get what you want. In the human world, the currency of choice is money. In my world, the currency of choice is cute-ness. It is that certain je ne sais quoi which we dogs have mastered over time and what I use this to wrap my humans round my paws.

One can't be too obvious when manipulating humans this way, which is why we lead humans to believe that they have trained us little "tricks". It gives them this sense of accomplishment and you would be surprised by what they are willing to give you to listen to them! (This has got to be every advertisers dream! Creating meaningless need! Us dogs have successfully created a need for humans to see their dogs perform pointless tricks! I mean is a "roll over" really that life changing?)

Back to supply and demand...as with most dogs, I get my dinner in the form of kibbles. Everyday, without fail, my humans get my dish out and fill it with kibbles. Seeing as we live in a dog-eat-dog world (dogs don't really eat dogs do they?) these kibbles do not come free.

Kibbles = "Sit" + "Stay"

**I'm not sure if my humans paid for my kibbles using "Sit" and "Stay" though I doubt it, they keep talking about my relatively high upkeep!**

This is me and my kibbles

As a bonus, I sometimes get treats which can take the form of guava, apple, carrots, chicken (very high value) and various dog treats from the pet shop. Now these treats have a higher value as they are given in smaller quantities and are not dished out every day. As such, my humans expect more in exchange of these treats. Which means that supply of treats are restricted compared to my kibbles.

Treats = "Sit" + "Stay" + "Paw" + "Other Paw" + "Down" + "Bark" + "Kiss" + "Fetch" + "Roll"

As you can see, I have to roll out my full repertoire of tricks to get my treats. This means that my treats have a higher value compared to my kibbles. And the reason they are higher in value is because of the scarcity, they don't dish this out everyday!

Doing a "Down" for my treat

So how are the prices determined in the first place? Like everything else, the value placed on an item is the value someone is willing to pay and receive for it. So I don't actually get my kibbles until I perform my "Sit" and "Stay" and the same goes for my treats. When my humans feel like I have done enough, I get my tricks. Of course this is very one sided as I am prepared to do anything (and I mean anything) to get my treats - not so much for kibbles though.

Enjoying some downtime with the fruits of my labour

Which is why my humans understand why I don't perform *any* of these tricks when I know I won't get anything in return. I mean really...nothing in life comes free does it?