Hello, dear IT specialists!
Stop picking your nose; instead, listen to the economics course. You will learn about essential economic concepts, becoming extremely smart as a result. And if you answer the questions correctly, your parents will buy you ice cream and take you to the zoo.
Task 1
In a faraway kingdom, in a distant state, an old man was growing a turnip, while a hen Ryaba was laying eggs.
The old man wanted some scrambled eggs and asked hen Ryaba:
— Want to barter? You give me eggs, and I'll give you a turnip.
— I like pecking at turnips, - hen Ryaba replies.
They agreed to exchange 4 eggs for 1 turnip.
Questions for consideration:
a) How many eggs, according to the agreed rate, are worth 1 turnip?
b) How many turnips is 1 egg worth?
Correct answers:
a) 4 eggs.
b) 0.25 turnips.
Task 2
Hen Ryaba wanted to peck at turnips, but she was too lazy to lay eggs that day. What to do?
She says to the old man:
— Please lend me a turnip.
The old man replies:
— You're going to forget that you borrowed it, and then you won’t give me any eggs back.
— No, I won’t forget. Here’s a feather. Show it to me tomorrow, and I’ll return you the debt for the feather.
— Alright, - the old man agreed.
He lent hen Ryaba a turnip and took the feather in exchange.
The next day, the old man returned the feather to hen Ryaba and received the promised eggs in return.
Questions for consideration:
a) How much was the feather worth before this operation?
b) How much was the feather worth after the operation started but before completion?
c) How much is the feather worth after the operation?
Correct answers:
a) It wasn't worth anything.
b) 1 turnip or 4 eggs.
c) It isn’t worth anything.
Task 3
The old man wanted to get some dog fur for treating radiculitis. Zhuchka agreed to give as much fur as needed in exchange for a turnip. But alas: the turnip grown by the old man was given to hen Ryaba in exchange for a feather.
Then the old man said to Zhuchka:
— You take the feather. Tomorrow, you’ll give it to hen Ryaba, and in return, you will get eggs.
Zhuchka happily agreed and let the old man pluck some fur from her.
The old man cured his acute radiculitis and thinks:
«Clearly, there is magical power concentrated in chicken feathers, since you can acquire anything with them.»
Questions for consideration:
a) Why did the old man think that?
Correct answers:
a) The old man has completely lost his mind.
Task 4
Hen Ryaba figured something out and said:
— How about we evaluate all products in feathers!
The old man scratched his head and replied:
— Why not? What difference does it make what we use to evaluate, if the exchange ratios are established?!
And Zhuchka, in agreement, barked something.
Thus, the products produced on the farm began to be evaluated in chicken feathers.
Questions for consideration:
a) Is the old man right that, with unchanged exchange ratios, it doesn't matter what we use to evaluate the products?
b) Why did the hen Ryaba need to evaluate products in feathers?
Correct answers:
a) Correct.
b) The hen was not foolish at all. She was looking into the distance.
Problem 5
Now the products began to be sold and bought for chicken feathers instead of being exchanged for each other.
If the old man needed eggs, he paid the hen Ryaba 1 feather and received 4 eggs for it.
If the hen Ryaba needed a turnip, she paid the old man 1 feather and received 1 turnip for it.
Questions for consideration:
a) What is the difference between buying and selling and the previously considered borrowing?
b) How many feathers were in circulation earlier, during borrowing?
c) How many feathers are in circulation now, during buying and selling?
Correct answers:
a) In that buying and selling feathers are not removed from circulation after the transaction, unlike borrowing.
b) Equal to the sum of debts. When a debt occurs, the number of feathers in circulation increases; when a debt is paid off, it decreases.
c) An arbitrary number introduced into circulation by the hen Ryaba.
Problem 6
Soon the hen Ryaba realized that she didn't need to lay eggs. Why, if it was easier to pluck feathers from her tail and pay with them?!
Then she thought some more and decided to lay eggs after all, but not simple ones, but golden ones, to decorate the chicken coop.
She decided and did just that.
Questions for consideration:
a) Can we say that after the hen Ryaba stopped laying simple eggs, she became a freeloader?
b) Why decorate the chicken coop with golden eggs?
Correct answers:
a) Not can, but must.
b) The hen Ryaba got obsessed with wealth.
Problem 7
Once, the old woman tried to pay for the products with a sparrow feather.
— What are you doing?! – immediately clucked the hen Ryaba. – That's not allowed, you shouldn't do that! For such a thing, one should peck out your eyes!
The old man was taken aback by the hen's clucking and said to the old woman:
— You, old lady, you know... Don't agitate the bird unnecessarily, she's been a bit troubled lately and is throwing punches at people.
— Alright, I won't, — replies the old woman.
Since then, nobody has even mentioned paying for goods with sparrow feathers.
Questions for consideration:
a) How does a sparrow feather differ from a chicken feather?
b) Why was the chicken Ryaba so upset?
Correct answers:
a) There is no difference.
b) If the old lady starts paying for goods with sparrow feathers, she will be able to retire. Who will then produce goods for chicken Ryaba to exchange for her feathers?!
Task 8
Chicken Ryaba constantly wanted to peck, but there were hardly any feathers left in her tail. So, chicken Ryaba said to the mouse:
— You look a bit skinny. Are you not eating enough?
— I'm not eating enough, — admitted the mouse.
— Take three feathers, eat well, and work with renewed strength. And in a week, you will return four feathers. It'll be good for you and beneficial for me.
The mouse scratched her sunken belly and agreed.
From that day on, chicken Ryaba stopped plucking feathers from her tail and started lending them out at interest.
Questions for consideration:
a) Did the mouse win or lose by borrowing 3 feathers from chicken Ryaba?
b) How much did the mouse win or lose?
Correct answers:
a) She lost.
b) 1 feather.
Task 9
One day, the old man and the old woman looked into the henhouse and gasped at the countless golden eggs laid by chicken Ryaba.
The old man wanted to take the golden eggs, but chicken Ryaba wouldn’t allow it.
— What are you reaching for? My golden eggs cost feathers! – she clucked.
The old man and woman had no extra feathers; they all went for food. Therefore, they didn’t touch chicken Ryaba’s golden eggs.
Just in case, chicken Ryaba hired Zhuchka to guard the henhouse from uninvited visitors. By that time, chicken Ryaba had so many feathers that she could afford to do so.
Questions for consideration:
a) Was the old man able to treat his sciatica after Zhuchka was hired to guard the henhouse?
Correct answers:
a) He wasn’t able to. Zhuchka stopped giving the old man wool because she now received feathers from chicken Ryaba.
Task 10
The old man pondered why he was planting turnips all day long, yet he wasn’t gaining any feathers, while chicken Ryaba wasn’t even laying normal eggs, while the henhouse was full of gold and several bags of feathers were stacked in the corner.
Chicken Ryaba noticed the old man’s pensive expression and said to him:
— Don’t like something? Fine, let’s get rid of the feathers. We’ll start writing down how many feathers everyone has.
And that's what they did.
Now, with every sale, a certain amount of feathers was deducted from the buyer's account and added to the seller's. Yet, the old man still didn't get richer, while the hen Ryaba became obscenely wealthy.
Questions for consideration:
a) Why didn't the old man get rich from the deduction of feathers from circulation?
b) Why did the hen Ryaba need to withdraw feathers from circulation?
Correct answers:
a) What's the difference between exchanging physical feathers or just recording the amount on paper?! It’s the same either way.
b) Now, the hen Ryaba no longer had to pull feathers from her tail, nor did she have to acquire feathers by lending them for interest; she could simply write down the needed amount on her paper.
Task 11
Eventually, the old man got so thin that he began to openly express his discontent due to sciatica.
— Is it the sciatica that's troubling me, or do my feathers no longer please you?! – the hen Ryaba clucked back amidst the angry barking of Zhuchka. – Fine, let's do it your way. I propose we completely abandon chicken feathers and introduce cryptocoins instead.
— What do you think, is this worthwhile? – the old man asked his granddaughter.
— What do you mean, old man, are you totally out of it?! – the granddaughter exclaimed, shaking her braids enthusiastically. – Cryptocoins are the most awesome thing there is, the latest trend in modern technology. They are based on blockchain!
The old man didn't know what blockchain was, so he agreed to cryptocoins.
The hen Ryaba bought the equipment and started mining cryptocoins. But the old man didn't have enough feathers to buy mining equipment, so he had to grow radishes in the garden again.
Questions for consideration:
a) What's the difference between writing down feathers on paper and cryptocoins?
b) What education did the granddaughter have?
c) Why did the granddaughter advise the old man and his wife to agree to cryptocoins?
Correct answers:
a) The difference is that you can look at the record on paper, but you can't find out the amount of cryptocoins the hen Ryaba has.
b) IT-related.
c) Because she’s a little fool. She confused the technical implementation of mediums of exchange with their economic essence.
Task 12
The old man got tired of this nonsense. He took a gnarled stick and first gave Zhuchka a good whack. Then he went into the henhouse and wrung the neck of hen Ryaba. What else should I do if the hen lays not eggs, but nonsense?!
Grandpa made chicken soup from the hen Ryaba and fed his family with it. And here ends the fairy tale; anyone who reads to the end can earn an MBA diploma.
Questions for consideration:
a) Did Grandpa act correctly?
b) Who will now lay the eggs?
c) What does the MBA diploma have to do with this?
d) What did Grandpa do with the golden eggs?
Correct answers:
a) Correct. Chicken soup is tasty; one shouldn't starve!
b) No one. He'll probably have to get a new hen.
c) Not applicable.
d) He purchased mining equipment with them.
Source: habr.com
