Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for May 09, 2023

Panels 2 and 3 read like a stand-up routine.

Apparently Pig qualifies for the low rate for people with poor credit?

Sad but true for the economics teaching profession.

Don’t you need to have several instances of low interest to make a low interest rate?

They should appoint Pig to the Federal Reserve Board.

No, no, pig is right

A sales type once told me that when he knew I wanted to buy something, that was interest … and when he knew someone else wanted to sell something, that too was interest. But when he knew someone who wanted to sell what I wanted to buy, that was compound interest!

…down by the river!!

I’ve always distrusted economics teachers, if they really understood economics, they wouldn’t need to teach.

So both of you are going to be Chris Farley from “SNL.”

Pig is correct. Economics really is “the dismal science”.

probably there is a low interest rate about it, but someone has a hint to explain the red apple?

Teaching would be a great vocation, until you realize how stupid people are.

Interesting, Pig!

What college would ever admit Pig as a student?

Never trust a man in a bow tie, unless he’s bringing you pizza.

I know a lot about the trouble that buyouts, synergy and mergers can cause.

By the river.

Economics – the art of explaining tomorrow why your predictions yesterday didn’t come true today.

I went to night school to learn programming and had to take 3 trimesters of accounting. Oh! The thrill.

I loved my Micro Econ class so much, and, learned so much that I would love to teach it. Of course, then I’d all that government mandated requirements to deal with, so no thanks. I’ll just do it one on one with people that have an interest in it.

So true. As someone with a Bachelor’s degree in economics, I can assure you that we would all be much better off if a year of instruction in basic macro and micro-economics was required of all citizens who ever plan to vote. Gives you a much better grasp of when the pols have no idea what they’re talking about.

Chris Farley was right!

We used to DREAM of living in a van …

Is that Professor Eugene Levy on the right?

….down by the river!

Is that van down by the river?

Just blame it on social media, Stephan.

This relates to my life waaaaaay too much.

6 comments so far referencing Matt Foley…nice!

Wow. Even during this National Teacher Appreciation Week, teachers still don’t get no respect.

Well this is certainly obvious now that a plurality of America STILL trusts republicans more on the economy and they don’t like our current presidents handling of the economy. We have record low unemployment, record high job creation, record high and increasing wages. Our growth in GDP is solid even with increased interest rates which are bringing down inflation. To top that off republicans are holding our economy hostage with their refusal to increase the debt ceiling, something they did no less than 3 times under TFG as they ran the debt through the stratosphere with decreased revenues. So yeah evidently no one was paying attention in economics class OR in math because they cannot seem to even count.

I used to teach economics before I retired, and I don’t even own a van. My house IS paid off, however.

One of THE most interesting classes I took in college was ECON 101 taught by a grad student who was not going to be a teacher. On the class critique I wrote that it would be sin if he didn’t go into teaching. There must have been some other good critiques because the next class period he was glowing.

The closest I came to economics was a course in Home Economics back in the 50’s!

My retirement plan is dying.

Economics seems to be one of those professions where it’s accepted practice to start with a politically-driven conclusion and then work backwards to support it. How else would we have supply-side economics?

Ray Charles summed up capitalism, neatly…“Them that’s gots is them that gets…and I ain’t got nothin’ yet.”

If you learn addition and subtraction in the third grade,isn’t that all the economic knowledge you need?

Well, the interest rates sure aren’t low right now!

I have a very low interest rate in anything said on CNN, MSNBC, and by our pathetic excuses for POTUS and VPOTUS.

A person complained to a loan officer that his interest was rather high. The loan officer said “No, actually I couldn’t care less.”

Yep … a van down by the river, and become a Motivational Speaker as a part time activity. Regards, Matt.

i have a low interest rate for school but… hey, its all most over. 8/10

Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!

Stephan, you should retire and live in vain…

hey that’s a LOT of Portlanders plan

IMHO, economics is less like science or art, and more like religion. Many wildly differing “philosophies” with each having its own prophet (Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, Karl Marx, etc.). Each has a group of followers doggedly insisting and trying to prove that their’s is not just the best, but the only way.

And all of them are partly right, but mostly wrong.

Down by the river.

..Pulling the kayak off the top of the van..

Matt Foley is gonna have neighbors!

As an Economics teacher, I am severely offended. . . I thought I could at least have a decent RV err something to retire in. . .

I don’t think you’re getting through to him.

Pig’s perception is not far off. Economics has been “the dreary science” since Malthus. Those two economists should indeed retire to van life. We’d be better off….

I regret that I didn’t get a degree in Economics when I went to UMass. Had I earned that degree, I would spend every day calling, e-mailing and texting every newspaper, magazine, talk show and newscast. I’d give them my opinion on the economy. The best part is I’d attach my economics degree to all correspondence and I would INSIST on being quoted as Economist Todd S_______.

You know the Van Life isn’t such a bad thing. and good luck getting the prime spot by the river.

My high school economics teacher was … not my favorite. I’ll just leave it at that.