When College Students Invent: The Case of Beer Bongs

Every year, I teach the production possibility frontier in terms of the two outputs that students can produce-fun and learning. To introduce technical progress, I ask for examples, first sector-specific progress, then general improvements in technology.
This year’s students came up with an example of technical progress in the fun sector-the beer bong. Apparently students attach a funnel to a keg of beer, attach a tube to the funnel and are able to ingest more beer more rapidly than before. Unfortunately, I guess this does increase “fun,” at least as defined by some students. It enables them to get drunk more rapidly, releasing time for learning (assuming they can sober up quickly)!