Using video clips to teach economic concepts

With so many schools transitioning to distance learning this fall (Y2020), teachers will be working "overtime" converting their traditional lessons to effective online lessons.  Movie/video clips can be an effective way to teach an economic concept.  How you use these clips will depend on what online platform is used by your school.  

The following clips are YouTube links which can easily be embedded into most online platforms (my district uses Canvas).  I will be adding more clips to this post so stay tuned...

Economic Systems:

Traditional Economy: (Mongolian nomads)

 Command Economy: (from the movie Moscow on the Hudson...stop at 1:07)

In this clip, you see Robin Williams character go to the shoe store.  Examples of command economy in this scene: stand in line, rationing (limited in how many pairs he can have), all the same style (no choices/creativity), will blackmarket the items

Clip of shopping in 1990 USSR (when they fill up the car, you can see long lines...shortages that exist)

1990 USSR gas station...observe the cars (contrast the cars in 1990 USSR to other 1990 cars)

Market Economy: (Moscow on the Hudson scene...when he goes to the grocery store for the first time and realizes there are no "lines" but he can freely purchase items himself)

Supply and Demand:

This clip is from the movie The Hudsucker Proxy.  In the movie, the hula hoop was created to hopefully increase the price of the company's stock.  When the hula hoops hits the market, there is no demand (tastes/preferences)  for the toy.  You see the price drop.  When the young boy makes this new toy look fun, a demand is created, driving up the price of the hula hoop.

I usually have students practice graphing through this clip.  

This clip shows the auction of a rare 1948 Tucker Torpedo (see below for information on car).  Big demand, small supply = over $2 million for car! 

Adam Smith/Invisible Hand:

This is part of John Stossel's Greed show.  This is an excellent scene to help students visualize (and define) Adam Smith's invisible hand.

Market Structures: 

Below, you will find several clips on the Tucker Torpedo.  If you are unfamiliar with Preston Tucker, research him.  The first clip is from the movie, Tucker: A Man and His Dream.