10
Nov 2010

A physicist, an engineer and an economist

I read this in the Irish Times today…

Three castaways on a desert island find a crate of canned food. The first, a theoretical physicist, comes up with a model of a machine that can open cans with astonishing efficiency, then realises there is no material to build the machine. The second, an engineer, tries to open the cans with everything available – stone, stick, coconut – but all in vain. The last one, an economist, steps in and starts: “Let’s assume that we have a can opener…”

Ha Joon — author of: 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism

Posted in: Opinion