In the “Surplus Wit” tab of the site navigation you will find a glossary. Not any old glossary mind you; one meant to amuse AND educate. The following is a glossary tease. Check out the rest of it and please share the SwiftEconomics.com glossary with colleagues, friends, and family!

Jennifer Love Hewitt laughed straight to the bank

Say’s Law

Which comes first: supply or demand? French economist Jean-Baptiste Say said supply. Repeat that ten times fast. He was alive in the 18th and 19th centuries and felt as long as there was supply, demand would follow.

Say’s theory works a little better in an economy more like a spattering of guilds then the consumer mall we have today. Consider the animated movie Delgo. You’ve likely never heard of this film because no one went to see it. Delgo was released December 12, 2008 by Fathom Studios. Animated family films like Shrek and Finding Nemo have a long history of raking it in at the box office. If there was ever a situation where supply creates demand, this was it. Delgo made some dubious history managing a meager $511,920 in its opening weekend in wide release.

Casting the voices of Freddie Prinze, Jr., Kelly Ripa, and my favorite Saturday morning cartoon pitch woman Jennifer Love Hewitt doesn’t come cheap. The film cost $40,000,000 to make. That’s U.S. budget deficit kind of stuff. The animated treasure holds the record for lowest opening weekend ever. What say you, Say?