I think last week there was a theme that talked about what would happen if you were in an unknown and I already assume deserted place, without any money or help. I found the topic very interesting because I had already read an economics book with a theme that took place on an "almost" deserted island and that could go well with the proposed theme. However, I ended up not having time to talk about this subject at the time, which was a little sad, but that's okay because I'm going to talk about it now!
Source: How an Economy Grows and Why it Doesn't
The reason for talking about this context is that the idea is to talk a little about what a person would do in a "lost on an island" situation and also comment a little about Irwin Schiff's economics book called "How an Economy Grows and Why it Doesn't", if you are interested there are other books by the author as well. I must start by saying that reading the book was fantastic, and that the author understands economics well and was able to show concepts such as opportunity cost and inflation with great ease of understanding, using comics as a tool to convey this to all ages.
That's right, it's a very curious book, because it talks about economics, using comics with a story that takes place on an island in a prehistoric period, making an analogy between currency and fish. Confused? Perhaps. Does it teach fundamental and important lessons? Absolutely!
I'll be much appreaciated if you Votes, Reblogs or give any Tips. Thanks and have good reading! 🍀
Economy with Fish on a Desert Island!
On the island in the book "How an Economy Grows and Why it Doesn't", the inhabitants caught a fish to eat every day. They woke up early, took their spears and went to sea to catch the fish they would eat during the day. At the end of the day, they found themselves in the same situation, they caught 1 fish, ate 1 fish each and ended the day with 0 fish.
Did you notice the analogy with jobs and salaries? If you didn't understand, I'll explain. Think of a common worker and extend the period from one day to one month, which is salary time in some countries. The worker starts the month by going to work every day, receives the salary for the service provided, then pays the bills and at the end of the month finds himself with 0 "fish", sometimes even with negative "fish".
It's interesting to think about the relationship between this and the aforementioned topic, because if any person who lives today in capitalism under the salary system ended up on a desert island, perhaps the same loop of home - job - salary and bills to pay would be the same, but in a different scenario. His concern could be the same as paying for "hunger" and the period would be daily and not monthly. Regardless of the situation, people only seek one thing to survive.
Source: How an Economy Grows and Why it Doesn't
In the story, the character's turning point was when she stops going fishing one day, becoming hungry, and uses her time to build a simple fishing net. The other day, instead of catching a single fish he managed to catch 2 fish, getting 1 extra fish to trade with the other residents of the island.
Note that here the author showed us in a simple way the concept of opportunity cost, the person can use their time to catch just 1 fish or "invest" the time to create a fishing net, taking the risk of being hungry for 1 day. Have you ever thought about how many stories of famous businessmen don't have a period of sacrifice, in which they work harder, put in extra time, and then get their "fishing net"?
Just to mention, over time the story in the book progresses until the moment when people have plenty of fish and create banks that give fish certificates and a little more time they start to create "worse" fish. This shows what happens to money, which was previously backed by gold and over time became worse with inflation.
