For laughter and economic insight, the following are wonderful.

A Cartoon: From gocomics.com, a very hypothetical illustration of “The First Economist.”

A Daily Show Excerpt: Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s problems with selling his house.

The Economic Lesson

Some serious reading that relates to this economic humor might include Paul Krugman’s excellent NY Times Magazine article about saltwater and freshwater economists. As the cartoon says, “Um…It didn’t work…again…But the theory is still sound.”

And, for more background about the housing crisis, here, through their purchase of “toxie,” NPR’s Planet Money reporters tell the whole story.

An Economic Question: How would you interpret “the first economist” cartoon?