Yesterday during one of the question and answer sessions at FEE, one of the professors, Gene Callahan, brought up this hypothetical situation for the students to think about and attempt to answer, then he revealed the actual answer to us. So, since I occasionally ask questions on here for people to answer, I am going to post this one. Also, I will make it a contest. The first person to post the correct answer and valid explanation will receive a copy of Gene Callahan’s Economics for Real People.

Post your answers in the comments on this post. I will leave the contest open until 12:00 a.m. EST June 20, unless someone gets the answer correct before then. If someone gets the answer correct, I will post it in my update for that day, as well as notify the winner and post a comment stating that the contest is closed. One entry per person.

Please note: Attendees of the FEE seminar this week are excluded from winning, since you heard this from Callahan during the session. I will notify the winner and mail him or her a copy of the book.

So, here is the question:

Let’s say that Pink Floyd’s 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon sold 5 times as many copies than their 1971 album Meddle. Does this mean that consumers valued Dark Side of the Moon 5 times greater than Meddle?

(Note: These might not be actual sales numbers; this is a hypothetical question.)

Again, post your answer as a comment on this post. Answers must provide a valid explanation to go along with the “yes” or “no”.