ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the economics of everyone’s favorite, friendly, neighborhood Spider-Man and his alter ego Peter Parker. For most of his comic life, Peter has lived a life of poverty. The question that needs to be asked though, is why? Even without his spider senses, Peter had a lot going for him. He’s a smart kid with really interesting ideas and the ability to put those ideas into practice. In economic parlay, he’s got high levels of human capital. However, when he becomes Spider-Man, the teenage Peter Parker faces problems beyond finding a date. Opportunity costs for activities outside of web-slinging rise and he faces the likelihood of imposing externalities on others, both of which interfere with any utility being Spider-Man might bring. Most importantly it is entirely possible that Peter has focused just a bit too much on his super-human abilities while not fully appreciating his own innate talents.
