The Economic Narrative of ‘Game of Thrones’

To start, although the Seven Kingdoms of the Westoros continent, where the saga unfolds, have the social and technological characteristics of medieval Europe, its economy ebbs and flows like the modern business cycle. Seasons on the continent lasts years. For an agrarian society, summer is like an economic boom and winter is like an economic depression. The grumpy old characters often deride the young ones as “summer children,” who have not experienced the hardship of a prolonged winter. The wise Northmen’s motto? Winter is coming.

The Harvard Crimson examined the economic models in Game of Thrones because, well, the Crimson has a bunch of nerds writing for them (j/k, we love you nerds).

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