Two economists are walking in the woods.

Joke Poo: Two Plumbers

Two plumbers are working in a mansion, fixing a particularly stubborn drain.

One of them gets covered in sewage trying to unclog it. Disgusted, he turns to the other and says, “I’ll give you $50 to lick this sewage off my arm.”

The second plumber, looking equally miserable, reluctantly agrees and does it.

A little while later, the second plumber gets his own arm splattered in even worse muck. He turns to the first and says, “Alright, now you owe me! Lick this off and I’ll refund you the $50.” He agrees.

Afterwards, the second plumber wipes his mouth and says to the first, “I can’t help but think we both just licked sewage off each other, and we’re exactly where we started money wise.”

The first plumber spits and replies, “Yeah, but now we know for sure what that sewage tastes like. Imagine the competitive advantage that offers when quoting for future jobs!”

Alright, let’s break down this econo-poop joke and see if we can fertilize some new humor.

Joke Dissection:

• Core Elements:
  • Economists: The joke hinges on the stereotypical (though often unfair) perception of economists as being overly focused on numerical measures and rational (or seemingly irrational) decisions to maximize economic output.
  • Gross Transaction: The central absurd act is the exchanging of cash for the consumption of faeces.
  • GDP Focus: The punchline highlights the economist’s prioritizing of GDP as the ultimate measure of value, even in a transaction that is obviously worthless and disgusting.
  • Absurdity/Irony: The humor arises from the disconnect between the literal act (eating excrement) and the abstract economic concept (GDP growth). The economists are acting both rationally (seeking monetary gain) and irrationally (engaging in a disgusting act).

Observations and Connections to Enrich the Humor:

• GDP & Its Flaws: GDP does measure the total value of goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period. Critically, it doesn’t measure societal well-being, environmental impact, or wealth distribution. This joke cleverly satirizes that focus.
• The “Broken Window Fallacy”: A classic economic fallacy is that destruction can stimulate the economy (e.g., breaking a window requires repair, creating work). The joke is a grotesque version of this: producing “economic activity” through pointless, disgusting actions.
• Behavioral Economics: This field examines how psychological factors influence economic decisions. This joke could be framed as a bizarre behavioral experiment showing how incentives (money) can override even the strongest aversion (eating excrement).

New Humorous Content:

1. A Witty Observation:

“Economists are like toddlers with access to the national budget. They see a puddle of mud, and instead of avoiding it, they calculate the precise amount of GDP increase they can generate by jumping in, regardless of the mess.”

2. A “Did You Know?” fact infused with Humor:

“Did you know that if you could successfully monetize all the ‘value added’ activities people do – like arguing on the internet, binge-watching Netflix, and crafting overly complex economic jokes – we could probably double global GDP? The downside? We’d all be slightly more miserable, and the planet would probably implode from the sheer weight of meaningless transactions.”

3. A Follow-up Joke:

Two economists are walking in the woods. One offers the other $100 to eat a pile of you-know-what, which he accepts. A little later, the second economist reciprocates. Afterwards, the first economist says, “We’ve accomplished nothing.” The second economist replies: “Nonsense! Our transaction will now be included in national accounts”.
“And?” The first economist asks.
“It gets better” the second economist replies, “if we claim we both felt emotionally damaged by the experience, we can add the cost of therapists to our GDP contribution as well.”

4. A More Absurd Joke:

An economist is shipwrecked on a deserted island. He spends the first week creating a detailed model of the island’s economy, optimizing resource allocation, and predicting future growth based on coconut production. On day eight, he starves to death, clutching a beautifully crafted spreadsheet showing a projected 3% GDP increase in Q3 if only he had eaten some of the coconuts.

Explanation:

The new jokes and observations aim to build on the original’s humor by:

• Exaggerating the economist’s obsession with GDP.
• Highlighting the limitations and absurdities of GDP as a metric.
• Connecting the joke to relevant economic concepts and fallacies.
• Using the original’s premise to create even more absurd and thought-provoking scenarios.

Hopefully, this poop-joke analysis and enrichment has been… stimulating.