Capitalism and Cows
Posted on November 2, 2009 | Categories: Politics | Tags: internet finds, lol, money
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This semester I am taking a microeonomics course as well as a Russian history course. So when I found Capitalism and Cows: an explanation of the economics of capitalism by using cows and countries/corporations, it resonated with me on more than one level because it can relate to at least two of my courses!
Here are some of my favorite examples:
A JAPANESE CORPORATION — You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create clever cow cartoon images called Cowkimon(tm) and market them world-wide.
A SWISS CORPORATION — You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you. You charge others for storing them.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION — You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 12 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
Yes, these statements about how various corporations would go about with cows in a capitalist way use stereotypes, but they are quite amusing!
Krissy
I’ll admit, I really don’t know much about economics, so I might be missing out on more hilarity if I had a bettering understanding of that sort of thing. But even knowing as little as I do, it’s still quite funny. :) (Plus, cows make everything funnier. :P)
Manda
As someone who has taken an econ course (microeconomics, to be exact) and hated it, you’re not really missing out on much by lacking a fundamental understanding of econ :P
Jenaveve
Hey there – I just found your blog via Krissy (above) and had to comment – I had read the full listing of Capitalism & Cows not so long ago and it just cracked me up! I wonder if it should also be listed under ‘Cultural Studies’ :)