LOL.  Yes, it's something like that.  It begins when the man arrives on 
the island, finds the monkey, and "acquires" the monkey as his 
property.  But things happen, and the last question in the exercise is 
something like this:  "Is the man now the property of the monkey?"  
It's the progression of events that I'm missing, tho even for what I've 
told you all, I'm working strictly from memory.  I thought the exercise 
was thought-provoking, humorous, and delightfully unexpected. 

Donna Cunningham
[log in to unmask]


David W. Opderbeck wrote:


><P>So a man and a monkey are marooned on a deserted island...... 
&nbsp;can't wait to hear the punchline! &nbsp;Reminds me of this joke 
about classical economics:</P><P>A priest, a carpenter, and an 
economist are marooned on a deserted island. &nbsp;The have a meeting 
to decide how they might be rescued. &nbsp;The priest says, &quot;I 
will retreat into the forest and pray for a boat to come.&quot; 
&nbsp;&quot;That's good,&quot; says the carpenter, &quot;I'll gather 
some wood from the forest and try to build a raft that can float us 
into the shipping lanes.&quot; &nbsp;They then both turn to the 
economist who, after a thoughtful pause, says, &quot;well, assume we 
had a boat.....&quot;</P><P>David W. Opderbeck<BR>Assistant Professor 
of Business Law<BR>Baruch College, City University of New York<BR>(646) 
312-3602<BR>[log in to unmask]</P><P>&nbsp;<BR><FONT 
SIZE=2 STYLE=font-size:9pt><B>Donna Cunningham 
&lt;[log in to unmask]&gt;</B></FONT><BR><FONT SIZE=2 
STYLE=font-size:9pt>Sent by: &quot;Academy of Legal Studies in Business 
(ALSB) Talk&quot; &lt;[log in to unmask]&gt;</FONT><BR><FONT 
SIZE=2 STYLE=font-size:9pt>09/25/2005 01:23 PM AST</FONT><BR><FONT 
SIZE=2 STYLE=font-size:9pt>Please respond to &quot;Academy of Legal 
Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk&quot;</FONT><BR><BR> <FONT SIZE=2 
STYLE=font-size:9pt>To:</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 
STYLE=font-size:9pt>[log in to unmask]</FONT><BR> <FONT 
SIZE=2 STYLE=font-size:9pt>cc:</FONT> <BR> <FONT SIZE=2 
STYLE=font-size:9pt>bcc:</FONT> <BR> <FONT SIZE=2 
STYLE=font-size:9pt>Subject:</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2 
STYLE=font-size:9pt>Urgent - Property Law Exercise</FONT><BR> 
&nbsp;<BR><BR></P><P><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Sometime in the 
last year or two, one of our members presented an intriguing<BR>student 
exercise about the meaning of property. &nbsp;It involved a man and 
a<BR>monkey both marooned on an island. &nbsp;I gleefully tucked away 
my copy (I<BR>thought) in my property law folder, but today came 
looking for it, and it's<BR>not there. &nbsp; I've looked everywhere! 
&nbsp;Can anyone help? &nbsp;I need this for my<BR>Tuesday 
classes.<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Regards,<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>
<FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Donna J. Cunningham, 
J.D.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Assistant Professor 
of Management<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Langdale 
College of Business<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Valdosta State University<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Valdosta, GA &nbsp; 31698<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Direct: (229) 249-2606<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">[log in to unmask]<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><BR
></P>