golden-eggs
Explanation
The Joke
The comic shows "Responses to a Goose That Lays Golden Eggs" from two perspectives. The Dog response is straightforward: "Kill it to see if there's more gold inside!" and "Take what eggs it lays and be content." The Economics response is far more elaborate and devious: "1. Borrow as much money as you can. 2. Short sell on gold. 3. Publicize the magic goose. 4. Reap profits from cornered market. 5. Use profits to buy all gold cheap. 6. Eat the goose."
The Humor
The fairy tale of the goose that lays golden eggs is traditionally a morality tale about greed versus patience -- the foolish farmer kills the goose hoping to get all the gold at once, when he should have been content with steady returns. The comic subverts this by introducing an economics perspective that is far MORE greedy and destructive than the fable's villain, but in a sophisticated, multi-step financial scheme rather than through simple brute force. The economist's plan involves market manipulation (short selling gold, then flooding the market to crash prices), making the traditional "greedy" response of killing the goose look quaint by comparison. The final step -- "eat the goose" -- is the darkly funny kicker, showing that economists end up at the same destructive endpoint as the fable's fool, just with extra steps and collateral damage to the entire gold market along the way.
References
The fable of the goose that laid the golden eggs is one of Aesop's Fables, traditionally used to teach the lesson that greed destroys the source of good fortune. Short selling is a financial strategy where an investor borrows and sells an asset they expect to decrease in value, planning to buy it back at a lower price.