Economic Wilderness: Episode 4 Audio Recording
Word Count: 961
After studying Economics for the past six months, I have noticed similarities and
parallels between economic systems and ecological systems. In order to create an essay with a
slightly different and potentially quite intriguing approach, I have created Economic Wilderness.
It is a fictitious video series that explores different economic systems the way the average nature
show explores ecological systems. Imagine that the following is the audio recording of an
episode of the series.
Today on Economic Wilderness, we will take a trip to an economy based on seasonaltourism, located in beautiful Northern Michigan. Most jobs in this area are part of the service
industry catering to summer tourists brought here by the picturesque scenery and the small-town
charm. According to the National Parks Service, this major attraction to your left, known as the
Sleeping Bear Dunes, brings in over one million visitors each year. It is a guarantee that these
people will spend at least some money at local businesses during the summer.
However, when winter comes, the businesses of the region have to learn how to adapt to
this dramatic change in the number of customers in the area. Similarly, the residents have to
adapt to the change of employment provided by the seasonal businesses. To fully understand
this type of economy, we will examine several different types of adaptations of businesses during
the off-season, and see how the people that inhabit this place adjust over the course of a year to
the changes in the economy. In today’s episode, we will witness hibernation, refinement of
hunting skills, camouflage, migration, and caching resources as adaptations to the changing
seasons.
As you can see by the “Closed for the Season” signs seen around this block, some
businesses are not equipped to stay open during the winter months. So these establishments go
into hibernation until warmer weather ushers their prey back to the area. Oh pardon me, I meant
to say “tourists” not “prey”. Boss doesn’t want us to use “politically-incorrect” terms.
Moving on: another adaptation is seen here on the other end of the street. These several
restaurants remain open during the winter – even though the tourist traffic has greatly decreased.
They have managed to survive because they capitalize on the fact that they are the one of the
only places open in town. Just like, a cheetah must run fast to catch the antelope or it will not
survive, businesses must become smarter to attract customers. As can be seen on this sign, the
locals are hard to catch – evidenced by this dinner special tailored to the average year-rounder:
“Two draft beers and burger - $7”.
Before the cold takes over, bears will gorge themselves on food to store up enough fat to
last through the winter. During the warmer months in this area, specialty festivals are used for a
similar purpose. The National Cherry Festival, the MicroBrew Festival and the Traverse City
Film Festival draw in the many tourists and a considerable amount of money. This allows
businesses and organizations to “stock up on” money that can help them survive the off-season.
Thirty miles to the East, we find ourselves at what is known as a “destination location”.
These are ski resorts, indoor water parks, and occasionally specialty bed-and-breakfasts;
essentially, these are places that lure people to them during the off-season by adapting to provide
a high-end specialty service in each season. This particular ski and golf resort employees over
600 people seasonally. Similar to the snowshoe hare, this style of resort is excellent at
camouflage. The snowshoe hare’s fur is dark brown in the summer and white in the winter to
blend in with its surroundings and hide from predators. This resort adapts by becoming a golf
resort in summer and “shedding” its golf “fur” to become a ski resort in the winter.
At our next location, at this family-owned orchard, more than 100 workers are employed
during the harvest season. Near the edge of the property is currently-vacant housing that workers
will stay in during the harvest season. Much like many species of birds, these people are forced
to head south to warmer climates to be able to survive the winter. They are able find other work,
often agricultural, by their specific adaption – migration. This movement of agricultural workers
does not appear directly to affect the seasonal economy; however, when these workers leave the
area, it adds to the overall decrease in consumers and this only worsens winter’s effect on the
businesses.
Unlike some of their business counterparts, some of the people that do remain here are
unable to adapt as easily to the change after the tourist season. Often, these people depend on a
seasonal job as his or her primary source of income. As you can see behind me, this food
pantry’s shelves have been picked clean because it is the only place that some of these seasonal
employees were unable to store enough food to make it through the winter.
Seen here in the aisles of a grocery store, are people planning for the future lean offseason. Much like a squirrel hides nuts in the woods for colder months, some seasonal
employees are stocking up on canned and boxed goods that are on sale, while others are grabbing
supplies to preserve their own garden-grown vegetables and fruits.
The people and businesses that have adapted to a tourism-based economy know that the
sun will return to the area, bringing with it new flocks of tourists and momentary prosperity for
another season. Until then, it is a simple matter of survival of the fittest and the fittest are
usually the ones with the best adaptations.
Thank you for joining us today on Economic Wilderness. Next week, we will explore the
economy in a college town.