Price, demand, and hula hoops in the classroom.

The clip from Geoff Riley’s Economics at the Movies - The Hudsucker Proxy post is now a staple in my classroom - a great way to introduce the idea that price is only one of the factors that impacts on demand for a good or service. This year, a quick trip down to the P.E department made it an even more enjoyable lesson.

After showing the clip (below) and discussing the basic points, I pulled out the hula hoop and challenged my students to see how long they could keep it going for (and whether they could be beat me). Given that my time was only two seconds, I was quickly overtaken, with one student seemed to be able to do it continuously with very little effort at all. Obviously not all my students were keen to get up the front but the five or six who did made for an entertaining time. It then lead naturally into what other fads have occurred, and the links between price and demand for those. Of course, with Christmas coming there may well be opportunities for discussion of the latest trends and whether the hula hoop will make a comeback!