2014-06-03
Explanation
The Joke
A man stands in lingerie beside a bed where a woman sits reading a book. He says: "Sorry. But, according to the efficient market hypothesis, if sex with you were a good idea, I would've done it by now."
The Humor
The comic applies the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) -- an economic theory -- to a completely inappropriate domain: a couple's sex life. The EMH states that asset prices fully reflect all available information, meaning that if a stock were truly undervalued, rational actors would have already bought it, correcting the price. The implication is that it is impossible to consistently "beat the market" because any good opportunity is immediately exploited.
The man applies this logic to argue that since he has not yet had sex with his partner, it must not be a worthwhile opportunity -- if it were, a rational actor (himself) would have already acted on it. This is absurd for several reasons: it treats intimacy as a market transaction, assumes perfect rationality in personal relationships, and creates a circular argument where inaction justifies further inaction.
The visual setup adds to the humor: he is dressed in lingerie, presumably having made an effort to initiate, only to talk himself out of it using economic theory. This is a classic SMBC trope of academic concepts being misapplied to everyday life with comically self-defeating results.
References
- The efficient market hypothesis was developed by economist Eugene Fama in the 1960s and is a cornerstone of financial economics. It has been widely debated and critiqued.