Professors Issue Call For Papers On The Economics Of The Undead

Are there any economists or economics students in our midst? We hope so, because man, do we have the opportunity of a lifetime for you. California State University Northridge economics professors Glen Whitman and James P. Dow are accepting abstracts for an upcoming collection of essays on the economics of the undead. If you’ve ever sat down and put serious thought into how much blood a vampire needs to survive or exactly how the barter economies that would likely spring up during a zombie apocalypse could be made more efficient, then consider your number called.

While the editors of the forthcoming essay collection will accept a wide range of papers, they’ll look favorably on essays that can cite or explore the undead in popular culture. In other words, bonus points will be issued for being able to talk about the economics of the undead in George Romero movies, The Walking Dead, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s pretty much just like having a conversation with any of Geekosystem’s editors that way. You can learn get a look at the full call for papers here.

Just a few of the sample topics Whitman and Dow want to see addressed are:

supply and demand in the market for blood; the operation of zombie labor markets; the political economy of responding to undead threats; macroeconomic recovery after a zombie apocalypse; what zombie and vampire behavior tell us about rational-choice modeling; etc.

While the editors are focusing on the most popular undead creatures, zombies and vampires, that doesn’t mean that other topics will be off limits. In other words, if you’ve been looking for an excuse to finish up that cost/benefit analysis of a lich’s phylactery, this may be your chance. So what are you waiting for? Start putting those calculators to work, finance nerds! We need to know how many candy bars we’ll need for a gallon of diesel fuel in the coming zombie-dominated economy before it’s too late, and we’re counting on you.

(via Improbable Research)

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