The Top Ten Ways That Santa Thinks Economically

Through a Top Ten list, we can see that Santa uses economic thinking when he makes his decisions.

The Top Ten Ways That Santa Thinks Economically

#10 Production Costs

• By not paying his elves, Santa can supply approximately 500 million toys.

#9 Division of Labor

• To boost output, Santa needs to be sure that each elf does one task over and over again.

#8 Economies of Scale

• Because they produce millions of toys, Santa and his elves can lower “cost” and increase efficiency.

#7 Diminishing Marginal Utility

• Knowing that each extra bite tastes slightly less good, Santa (probably) eats fewer cookies at each house.

#6 Tradeoffs

• Even Santa does not have unlimited resources. When he decides to deploy his resources to make more of one toy, he sacrifices making more of another one.

#5 Complements

• Santa likes to drink eggnog with his cookies.

#4 Transportation Infrastructure

• Rather than congested airports, roads, and bridges, Santa’s reindeer use the ideal transportation infrastructure.

# 3 Utility

• Hoping children will love their presents, Santa selects popular toys that provide sufficient utility.

#2 Law of Demand

• Because price does not matter, children ask Santa for all they want.

#1 Law of Supply

• Because profit does not matter, Santa produces enough toys to make all children happy.

Our Bottom Line: Happy Holidays!

My sources and more: Thanks to my economics class for creating most of this Santa top ten list. Next, to see what survey participants think about Santa, do go to YouGov. And finally, for more, please take a look at econlife’s Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s top ten.