The Economics of the Donner Party

 Little did I know that when I started reading the powerpoint on Capital Investments, my mind would keep wandering to thoughts of the doomed Donner party of 1846. While workings of capital investments are fascinating, so is cannibalism. I have to admit, I am an absolute history geek. So, when seeing the word cannibalism in an economics lecture, my history geek ears perked up. What could cannibalism have to do with economics? Turns out it's super interesting. In economics, cannibalism is basically a reduction of sales of a current product when a new product is introduced. It could also be decrease in sales at a store when a new one of the same brand is opened close-by. An example of market cannibalism would be Apple coming out with a new version of the iPhone. Consumers want the new version and sales for the previous versions decrease. I remember hearing someone say that there should be a garbage can next to the cash register when you buy a new laptop because it's outdated the minute you buy it and you will want the new one. That's market cannibalism. 

So what does cannibalism in regards to economics have to do with the Donner party?  Actually, nothing. They seriously ate people. If you don't know about the Donner party, Google it, fascinating. 

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