Fifty thousand dollars for a dog

An economist had finished his day at work and was leaving for home, when he noticed a small boy call out to him from the footpath where he was sitting with a dog.

The boy said, "Sir, would you like to buy a dog."

The economist was surprised by the approach, but asked nevertheless, "How much are you selling the dog for?"

The boy replied "Twenty thousand dollars."

"Twenty thousand dollars for this dog!" the economist exclaimed.

"Does he know any special tricks to make him worth so much money?"

The boy replied, "Sir, this dog never made a dime in his life. If you take into consideration the expenses on his food, I think you will lose money on him every year."

The economist did not want to let go the opportunity to lecture the boy about the principles of economics and explained to him the fact that a commodity needed to yield more returns than it consumed to equal a purchase price.

He finished by saying that the five dollars could be the maximum sum that should be expected for the dog, that too from somebody who just wanted a companion.

Feeling satisfied with the knowledge that he had imparted to the young boy, the economist went away. A few days later, the economist again noticed the small boy was again sitting on the footpath but this time there was no dog in sight.

He asked the boy, "Did you get the five dollars for your dog?"

The boy said, "No, I got twenty thousand dollars for him."

The business man was stunned.

"How on earth did you get twenty thousand dollars for that dog?" he asked.

"It was a piece of cake," replied the boy.

"I traded him for two ten thousand dollar cats."