Obligatory head-shaking at the commercialization of Christmas? Check. Now on with the post.

While procrastinating on Twitter getting ready to dive head-first into a series of research projects this morning, I came across this video from WestJet Airlines (HT: Jon Acuff). I won’t spoil it, but it’s a pretty nice lesson in cooperation.

Consider, as you shop for your loved ones this holiday season, the countless people who know how to do things you don’t. The miracle of the market is that you are able to harness all of their knowledge and use it to achieve goals that those people may not understand or care about.

Last year, Deirdre McCloskey, Lawrence Reed, Walter Williams, and I were in the “I, Pencil” movie from the Competitive Enterprise Institute.* We learn a similar lesson in “I, Smartphone” from the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics.

*-Obligatory disclaimer: I was compensated for appearing in the movie and for writing a lesson plan to go with it, but not for blogging about it.