Comparative advantage seems like a very hazy subject. Who is really going to mow people's lawns or trade wine and cameras? It didn't seem that this had real world applications. But it does!
A bunch of my friends were sitting around today watching College Football. Someone started ranting about how they had to do their bio homework and math webwork over the weekend. They had already finished the bio but not the math. Another person, who was in the same classes, said they had done the math but not the bio.
They're eyes lit up. They realized that the should help each other finish the work. While a third person said they should just give each other the work that was done and copy it - these two unknowingly economists knew that cheating was wrong, but collaboration wasn't.
Person 1 said the math took them 20 minutes and the bio would probably take them an hour. Person 2 said the bio took them 30 minutes and the math would take 45 minutes. Person 1 has the comparative advantage in bio as their bio work takes 1/3 math (while Person 2's bio is 3/2 math). Person 2 has the comparative advantage in math as their math takes 2/3 bio (person 1's math takes 3 bios).
So the two people decide to collaborate and help each other finish the work. Now Person 1 did their bio in 30 minutes and Person 2 did their math at 20 minutes by the help of their friends. The world just gained 55 minutes back through this collaboration. Time for more football!!!!!
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