Title: The economics of The Hunger Games

Authors: Jeffrey Cleveland; Kim Holder; Brian O'Roark

Addresses: Howard Community College, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Maryland 21044, USA ' Department of Economics, Richards College of Business, University of West Georgia, Miller Hall 1316, Carrollton, GA 30118, USA ' Robert Morris University, 6001 University Blvd., Moon Twp., PA 15108, USA

Abstract: Using media in the classroom is an increasingly common way to teach economics. As far back as the 1830s, Martineau created stories with an economic message. Since then, many others have explored the economics found in other works of literature. Our objective here is to analyse the economic messages of one of the most popular young adult book series of the past ten years, The Hunger Games. In this paper, we examine issues of economic organisation, comparative advantage, the role of institutions, and income inequality among others, all of which help to promote the storyline of the novel. Students have responded favourably to the use of familiar characters in explaining these ideas, and we believe that utilising literature has been and will continue to be a helpful tool for economics instructors.

Keywords: economics education; literature; Hunger Games; educational media; fiction; novels; economic organisation; comparative advantage; institutions; income inequality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEE.2016.078860

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, 2016 Vol.7 No.2, pp.152 - 169

Received: 11 Mar 2016
Accepted: 08 Jun 2016
Published online: 03 Sep 2016 *

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