I once taught an Econ 101 class to a gaggle of freshman at a premier SUNY school. They gave me a bad evaluation, primarily because, to explain the free rider problem, I read them the Dr. Seuss book "Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose." In the story, animals learn it's easier to ride the moose's antlers instead of walking. At first, the helpful Thidwick doesn't have a problem with this. Eventually, the weight of the free riders becomes a burden and slows him down. With the approach of hunting season, this places him at risk. The animals he ferries, now accustomed to their costless mode of transportation, actually call Thidwick selfish when he asks them to leave. With the hunters approaching, fate would soon play a pivotal role.
It turns out moose shed their antlers annually. Fortunately for Thidwick, this event occurrs just before the sportsmen arrived. So, instead of Thidwick's head mounted on the wall in the den pictured on the last page, we see the mounts of all those animals who thought they could ride free forever. Thus ends Dr. Seuss's allegory against all things Marxist.
Equity markets, like moose, constantly move. Instead of feet, though, individual stock prices provide the means of motion. Underlying this are millions of individual investors, all independently deciding on the optimal price for any particular stock.
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Christopher Carosa
Chris Carosa has been writing a weekly article and monthly column for BenefitsPRO online and BenefitsPRO Magazine since 2011 and is a nationally recognized award-winning writer, researcher and speaker. He’s written seven books, including From Cradle to Retire: The Child IRA; Hey! What’s My Number? – How to Increase the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort; A Pizza The Action: Everything I Ever Learned About Business I Learned By Working in a Pizza Stand at the Erie County Fair; and the widely acclaimed 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions. Carosa is also Chief Contributing Editor of the authoritative trade journal FiduciaryNews.com and publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper he founded in 1989. Currently serving as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and with more than 1,000 articles published in various publications, he appears regularly in the national media. A “parallel” entrepreneur, he actively runs a handful of businesses, including a small boutique investment adviser, providing hands-on experience for his writing. A trained astrophysicist, he also holds an MBA and has been designated a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. Share your thoughts and story ideas with him through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christophercarosa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ChrisCarosa).
