Fascinating economics puzzle
by Rob - July 4th, 2008.Filed under: Uncategorized.
So, I’ve been reading a lot of game theory and popular economics (including Tim Harford’s excellent The Logic of Life). And tonight I encountered a fascinating example of an interesting economic effect.
The first Thursday of each month is one of Toronto’s open science-fiction pub nights. We meet at a place called The Foxes Den. The bar has daily specials, but they’re usually the same on the first Thursday of each month, and, like, forever they’ve been offering a special on a small pizza with three toppings of your choice for $7.99. Usually, two or three people get that (I’m usually one of them, and I get pepperoni, bacon, and onions).
Anyway, tonight, for whatever reason, they changed the special: instead of being any three toppings of your choice, the special was on the “meat lover’s pizza” — with these three toppings: sausage, pepperoni, and beef. It was $7.99, as usual.
Now, in any previous month, you could have ordered that exact same pizza under the special, but tonight when you had to take those three toppings, our group bought nine pizzas (including one bought by me) instead of the usual one or two. Fascinating to see that giving people no choice of toppings moved way more pie than letting them pick the toppings they wanted.
Anyway, it was, as always, a terrific evening. Lots of BNFs (big-name fans), including Murray Moore, Catherine Crockett, Taral Wayne, Hope Liebowitz, Alex Von Thorn, Marah Searle, and Lloyd and Yvonne Penney; two — count ’em, two! — Clinks: Carolyn and David; a trio of Tans (Irwin, Lisa — who is big in Doctor Who fandom — and their son, Ian); three Ph.D.s (Dan Evens [physics], Diane Lacey [chemistry], Charles Levi [History]); and a slew of people who just plain like reading SF. Always a great time, and newcomers are always welcome!
The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site