This post is dedicated to my father, an industry analyst with the International Trade Commission. In addition to being a career economist, Dad also consumes a painful amount of literature by economic historians, making him vastly more likely to ruin a perfectly good piece of cinema with so many "fascinating factoids" barely relevant to characters or storyline. It should be observed that the average economist is probably so thrilled to be invited anywhere as to prevent this type of behavior. By the way, nothing in quotation marks should be directly attributed to anyone, least of all my father. He uses more words on average to say...anything. That said, on with the list:
1. Amistad: "Hey, did you know that Irish and Cockney textile laborers largely opposed the slave trade because it contributed to unbeatable prices on cotton fabrics?"
(here, "Irish and Cockney" may just as well be rendered as a single word: Irish-and-Cockney)
2. Mary Poppins: "You know sweetheart, that kind of panic is likely to ensue in any bank where enough people attempt to withdraw their entire accounts at once, because banks usually only keep a fraction of what's been invested in them on hand in cash."
"A more realistic portrayal of chimney sweeps in Edwardian England would depict a hopeless alcoholic who hates his life, his job, and the very sight of sunlight."
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: "Pay attention kids, you're actually learning a lot about the politics of mercantilism."
4. The Wizard of Oz: "This entire story is a fascinating allegory for the conflict between advocates of the gold standard and early monetarists."
(if the previous statement includes factual inaccuracies, it's because I was actually paying attention to the movie).
5. Blood Diamond: "Africa is a giant clusterfuck. I had fun there, though. Everyone was really cool when I was explaining the structural complexities of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Less so if I said that I was voting for McCain."
6. Avatar: I've never sat down and watched this with my father or any other economist, but I just can't help but suspect that they would ruin it.
I'm sure there are more, including just about anything to do with pirates, the Cold War, or knock-on-wood if The Fountainhead ever comes to the big screen.
