Season 3 Episode 10: Varys offers diamonds to Shae to leave the Tyrion Lannister and the capital. She refuses. In doing so, the opportunity cost of staying with Tyrion are clearly illustrated – a lot of gold and a good life elsewhere. This clip also does a good job of illustrating trade offs, as Shae …
Season 7 Episode 1: Sam Tarley discovers where a cache of dragonglass is. Given the value of dragonglass, this immediately improves the outlook for society. The value of finding a valuable resource will improve production possibilities, and will mean society can produce more goods.
Season 5 Episode 8: Olly, a victim of violence from the Wildlings, asks Samuel Tarly why Jon Snow intends to help people who have been the Night’s Watch enemies for years. Samuel explains that in order to fend off against the White Walkers, Jon must have the strength of the Wilding army on his side …
Read more “Jon Snow’s Trade-Offs: Allies Against the White Walkers”
Season 1 Episode 1: Eddard is offered the role of Hand of the King. While not a monetary incentive, it’s a prestigious position but requires a lot of time commitment. He’s already a Lord at Winterfell, a great life with much more leisure time than if he took the new role, but the incentive to …
Season 5, Episode 5: Samuel Tarly was able to kill a white walker using dragon glass, but neither he nor Stannis Baratheon know why. Sam is reading to try to figure out more. Here is a case where research and development could yield results that help society. This is similar to what companies and governments …
Season 3, Episode 8: A soldier is happier to see Lady Brienne die fighting a bear with a wooden sword than to receive a big ransom. By doing so, he is paying an opportunity cost for entertainment To teach this concept in the classroom, click here for a lesson plan
Season 6, Episode 4: Tyrion Lannister explains to Grey Worm that he does not blindly trust their opponents and states “I don’t trust the men, I trust their self-interest.” This relates directly to the thinking of famed economist Adam Smith and his writing on self-interest and the foundations of markets in The Wealth of Nations.
Season 5, Episode 8: Arya tells story of how she would reinvest her daily profits, first for a second bucket to bring to the market, then for a cart. This allowed Arya to bring more goods to the market and make great profits. Standard economic models show that with an increase in capital – which …
Season 1, Episode 2: Tyrion explains that he learned to specialize in being intelligent – by reading a lot, while his brother could specialize in fighting. This is a good example of comparative advantage and specialization.