“I attempted to calculate the value of this string, as defined by the time I was investing in resuscitating it”
As invariably seems to happen in my life, I found myself in the slightly surreal situation of working on a farm in a far-flung corner of the world, this time in Kerikeri, on the northern island of New Zealand. Among a multitude of projects, one fine morning was spent cutting down a large, invasive tree that had managed to grow quickly and aggressively near the eastern end of the property (it also just so happened to interfere with a beautiful sunrise, which was how we first noticed it).
There are different methods for cutting down a large tree, but one thing you’ll want to ensure is that when it falls, it does not do so on top of you. This can be accomplished by looping a large rope around the trunk and securing it in the direction you’d like the tree to fall (possibly even using a winch, if you want to get creative). In order to slip the rope over the upper trunk, we used a thin piece of yellow string as a lead, which we managed to tangle to extraordinary ends before finally securing the rope.
As we started to work on the tree, the farm owner asked me if I could try to untangle the string. It was hot and – happy to have an excuse to sit down and fidget – I spent the following 15 minutes working to untangle the neon mess. After 15 minutes, having admittedly made very little progress and not feeling particularly productive, I asked the farm owner:
“Hey! Are you sure this is really worth the time to untangle? We can cut off the knotted end and have plenty left.”
He responded automatically, “It’s always worth the time.”
The economist in me was taken aback and had to bite down a witty retort. It wasn’t that I minded working on the string. It also wasn’t that I didn’t understand the principle – everything has some value, and you don’t waste a resource just because you’re feeling a little lazy.
But… ‘Always?’
That couldn’t possibly be true. And so, like any good economist with too much time and string on their hands, I attempted to calculate the value of this string, as defined by the time I was investing in resuscitating it. If I completed the untangling (say it would take me another 45 minutes), the cost associated with untangling the string and making it available for future use would be an hour of labour. Now to be fair, I was currently being employed in my capacity as a farmhand rather than an economist (I’m sure the pay scale is different), but even minimum wage in New Zealand is the equivalent of approximately $14 USD… Is there a reasonable way in which this string could be valued that high? A brand new string would cost all of $5…
Well, maybe there are other costs associated with acquisition – shipping, transaction, etc. – or disposal costs associated with throwing out the string? Maybe we still needed the string and had limited alternatives, thus changing the benefit structure? Or perhaps there was some non-monetary value I was failing to consider, like the environmental benefit of reusing resources or the meditative joy of untangling knots?
All this to say, I pondered and worked and untangled, t(r)ying to come up with a reasonable explanation within our context in which I could justify this truly gratuitous untangling process. And as such, it is not lightly and without consideration that I say – it was not worthwhile to untangle that string.
This string saga is a metaphor for how we often spend our time without thoroughly examining the tradeoffs. Because in the same way that I spent time on this untangling, we spend our time constantly. Sometimes it’s in the context of a job and we have little say over the matter (such as me and my string saga), but oftentimes, this isn’t the case. For example:
Is it worth your time to circle for 15 minutes to find a parking space that’s 3 minutes closer?
Does it make sense to drive the extra 20 minutes for gas that’s 8 cents/gallon cheaper?
Is it a good use of an afternoon to spend hours online researching a $50 purchase to find the absolute best deal?
Everybody’s answer will be different, and that’s fine – we all value our time differently, and there are other ‘intangibles’ that come into play. Some people just really like knowing they’re getting the best deal – I’m certainly not going to contradict that.
But the point is simply to think deliberately. The resources we spend are limited, and therefore precious – that’s the underlying belief of economics. And so every once in a while – if you feel yourself getting pulled down into a rabbit hole – maybe take a step back and ask yourself: Is this string really worth untangling?
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