“The Once-ler perceived a market opportunity, displayed extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit and proceeded to create an industry of Thneed manufacturing. His story exemplifies laissez faire economics and the potential of free market enterprise and what’s truly possible if government “stays out” of markets with needless regulations. So what went wrong?” In order to understand exactly the story of The Lorax as an allegory of economic principles you must understand in terms of different philosophy foundations, scarcity, uncertainty, interdependencies, and the duel nature of rights.
Philosophy foundations are all based on making a choice in any given situation. In the story The Lorax by Dr. Seuss the two main characters, the Once-ler and the …show more content…

The Brown Bar-ba-loots made the decision to leave town after the Once-ler created a scarcity of Truffula Trees which caused a shortage in Truffula Fruit, the main food that that ate. The problem with scarcity is that if it isn’t monitored then the resources will eventually run out. The Once-ler didn’t realize the scarcity he was creating among the clean air, Truffula Trees, and pond water by continuously using all of these resources without replenishing them. The outcomes of the choices he made left him with no demand, no money, and no resources to continue on with his business.
Uncertainty is very hard to manage. You can’t assign a probability, value or outcome to something that is unknown. In the story the source of uncertainty is the biological nature of production. When you make poor decisions they are bound to have outcomes with issues of uncertainty. The Once-ler only saw the opportunities the Thneeds gave him incrementally; he didn’t look at the big picture of things. He failed to acknowledge every situation he faced with the Brown Bar-ba-loots, the Swomee-Swans, and the Humming-Fish, thinking they were all part of the standard operating procedures in business, causing each of the potential risks faced to create a much larger gap of uncertainty. By the end of the story the