2014-03-02
Explanation
The Joke
The comic is titled "Economics Fun Fact: Paul Samuelson Got Around" and depicts a man resembling the famous economist Paul Samuelson (wearing glasses and a bow tie) at what appears to be a bar or social setting, using an economics-themed pickup line on a woman: "Hey baby. If I gave you the right incentivization, would you reveal your preferences."
The Humor
The joke takes the technical economics concept of "revealed preferences" -- a theory actually developed by Paul Samuelson -- and turns it into a sleazy pickup line. In economics, revealed preference theory states that consumers' preferences can be deduced from their purchasing behavior; when given sufficient incentives, people will reveal what they truly want through their choices. By rephrasing this as a flirtatious proposition, the comic creates a double entendre where "reveal your preferences" takes on a suggestive meaning, and "the right incentivization" sounds like an offer to buy someone a drink (or more). The title's claim that Samuelson "got around" frames the renowned Nobel laureate as a ladies' man who weaponized his own economic theories for romantic pursuits.
References
- Paul Samuelson (1915-2009) was one of the most influential economists of the 20th century. He was the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1970) and authored the best-selling economics textbook of all time.
- Revealed preference theory was introduced by Samuelson in 1938. It provides a way to infer consumer preferences from observed purchasing decisions, without needing to ask people what they want directly.