Sofie to Korea

This has definitely proven to be more challenging than I had expected, but certainly not in a boring way. Teaching in Korea has also made me rethink which examples I use when I teach economics. It turns out that not all everyday examples work in the same way in a Danish/American or Korean classroom.

Today I was teaching my students about the cross-price elasticity, that is how much the demand for one good changes if the price of another good increases, depending on whether the two goods are substitutes like milk and orange juice or complements like bread and butter.

When I asked my students what they would give as an example for goods that were substitutes, one of the guys suggested beer and soju. This sparked a lively discussion among the other students, who were quick to point out that they are just as likely complements, since many use them together in the Korean drink somaek. Oh, how (b)right they were. I admitted that they were definitely gray areas in terms of the correct definition. I’ll also make sure to steer clear of such examples in the future.