EconGoneCountry

Supply and demand with a twang

Title: Buy Me a Boat

​Artist: Chris Janson

Economic Concepts: Income; GDP; Standard of Living; Money; Medium of Exchange

Details: In economics we assume that people prefer to have more income compared to less.  This is expressed in the first line of the song "I ain't rich, but I damn sure wanna be".  However, a common saying is that money can't buy happiness.  Even though this may hold true, the keen observation is made that "it could buy me a boat, it could buy me a truck to pull it.  It could buy me a Yeti 110 iced down with some silver bullets".  The point here is that although money may not buy happiness, evidence  
shows that countries with higher income per capita have a higher standard of living and the people living there are more happy, ceteris paribus.  The income of a country is called its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and although it may not be a perfect measure of our standards of living it supports the idea that with our money we can purchase housing, food, healthcare, education, etc.  Therefore, more money (i.e. higher income) is better than less money.  In addition, this song illustrates the main function of money which is to purchase goods and services.  When money serves this function it is referred to as a medium of exchange.    

Lyrics: 

​I ain’t rich, but I damn sure wanna be
Working like a dog all day, ain’t working for me
I wish I had a rich uncle that’d kick the bucket
And that I was sitting on a pile like Warren Buffett
I know everybody says
Money can’t buy happiness

​But it could buy me a boat, it could buy me a truck to pull it
It could buy me a Yeti 110 iced down with some silver bullets
Yeah, and I know what they say
Money can’t buy everything
Well, maybe so,
But it could buy me a boat

​They call me redneck, white trash and blue collar
But I could change all that if I had a couple million dollars
I keep hearing that money is the root of all evil
And you can’t fit a camel through the eye of a needle
I’m sure that’s probably true,
But it still sounds pretty cool

​'Cause it could buy me a boat, it could buy me a truck to pull it
It could buy me a Yeti 110 iced down with some silver bullets
Yeah, and I know what they say,
Money can’t buy everything
Well, maybe so,
But it could buy me a boat

​To float down on the water with a beer
I hear the Powerball Lotto is a-sitting’ on a hundred mill
Well, that would buy me a brand new rod and reel

​And it could buy me a boat, it could buy me a truck to pull it
It could buy me a Yeti 110 iced down with some silver bullets
Yeah, and I know what they say,
Money can’t buy everything
Well, maybe so,
But it could buy me a boat

​Yeah, and I know what they say,
Money can’t buy everything
Well, maybe so,
But it could buy me a boat
It could buy me a boat

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