Shoes
This song by award-winning Indonesian artist, Tulus, uses the analogy of a pair of shoes to tell the story of a couple in love, but who can’t be together.
Watch the lyric video and, in groups of two or three, answer the following questions.
1. Consumers buy shoes in pairs. How would we define the relationship between a left shoe and a right shoe?
Answer: They are perfect complements. We consume the goods in fixed proportions: a 1:1 ratio.
2. The left shoe and right shoe are moving because of the human foot. Is movement endogenous or exogenous to their relationship?
Answer: The shoes are not in control of their own destiny. Their relationship is being driven by exogenous events.
3. The shoes are sad when placed on different shelves. How does this placement of shoes on different shelves illustrate a price control?
Answer: In an efficient market, the shoes would be placed side by side on the same shelf. A binding price control prevents the economy from returning to an equilibrium where the market clears.
4. This song is a metaphor about market failure. What factors cause market failure?
Answer: Binding price controls, monopoly power and externalities.
“Shoes”
We are a pair of shoes
Always together, can’t be united
We are dead things, as if we don’t have a soul
We’re moving because of the human foot
I’m the right shoe
You’re the left shoe
I’m delighted when asked to run fast
But I’m afraid you’ll be exhausted
I have no problem being drenched by rain
But I’m afraid you’ll be cold
We realise that we want to be together
But we can’t do anything at all
It feels complete when there are two of us
It feels sad when we’re on different shelves
When close to you, a box is like heaven
But we’re powerless to even touch each other
I’m delighted when asked to run fast
But I’m afraid you’ll be exhausted
I have no problem drenched by rain
But I’m afraid you’ll be cold
We realise that we want to be together
But we can’t do anything at all
We realise that we want to be together
But we can’t do anything at all
It feels complete when there are two of us
It feels sad when we’re on different shelves
When close to you, a box is like heaven
But we’re powerless to even touch each other
It’s true that love has many forms
Maybe not all of them could be united