My mijo, Jason, wrote and produced a CD, Kali Yuga Demolition. The CD received many reviews around the country including the LA Times. He plays hip hop and in the trade is known has a rapper who goes by the name Straith Wikid Crew. Jason claims that only 10% of the public listens to music for pure enjoyment. The rest use music as a complementary good. When people go to a bar, the listen to music and drink. When people study, they study and listen to music. Elevators often have music playing in the background. So do ads on the radio. In his view, music is a complement to work, play, and almost any activity.
In economics, when the price of a good increases, the demand for its complement falls. This makes intuitive sense. Suppose that peanut butter and jelly are complementary goods. If the price of peanut butter increases, consumers will buy less of it. Because they buy less peanut butter, they will need less jelly so the demand for jelly decreases.
Let's apply this economic model to Friday's concert. Supppose that teachers raised the price of tutorials. Teachers might have felt the crunch of the end of the six week grading period and felt obligated to give a major exam. Or maybe students most likely to attend the concert had the most missing work so the price of tutorial became more valuable. If this is true, would that explain the weak turnout Friday?
Muscatine High has about 2,000 BEDS enrolled students. 10% of the enrollment is 200. About 170 students attended the concert at $1 per ticket. Using Jason's model, the increase in the price may explain the attendance--ceterius paribus.
Well said.
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