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Why Superman Doesn't Take Over the World

What Superheroes Can Tell Us About Economics

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Why Superman Doesn't Take Over the World

By: J. Brian O'Roark
Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
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About this listen

Why do heroes fight each other? Why do villains keep trying even though they almost never win? Why don't heroes simply take over the world?

Economics and comic books seem to be a world apart. But in the hands of economics professor and comic hero aficionado J. Brian O'Roark, the two form a powerful alliance. With brilliant deadpan enthusiasm, he shows how the travails of superheroes can explain the building blocks of economics and how the laws of economics explain the mysteries of superhero behavior.

Superman has a day job because of elastic demand; Spiderman's existential doubts are all about opportunity cost; game theory sheds light on the battle between Captain America and Iron Man; the Peltzmann effect makes sense of why heroes can go to the bad; sunk cost fallacy explains the Flash's tragic dilemmas; the utility curve helps us decide who is the greatest superhero of all.

Why Superman Doesn't Take Over the World: What Superheroes Can Tell Us About Economics probes the motivations of our favorite heroes and considers what it would look like if their stories played out in reality.

©2019 J. Brian O'Roark (P)2019 Tantor Economic History Fantasy Theory Fiction
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Critic reviews

"This light and breezy read will have your mind soaring as you learn to see your favorite heroes on an entirely new light." (Dirk Mateer, author of Principles of Economics)

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Misses the base truth

While translating comic book realities into economic theory adeptly, it misses the foundational truth that also the writers of comic books miss — Kal El MUST take over the world in order to preserve truth and justice!

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