Kid: Can I watch squirrel video?
Me: Sure, after you do your chores for the day.
Kid: How many chore skips do I have left this week?
Me: I think you’ve used them all.
Kid: [thinking…] Can I use one from next week?
Me: Clever! You’ve invented the advance. Well…sure, why not.
Kid: [thinking more…] Could I pay money from my allowance to get more chore skips?
Me: …
Kid: …wait, and then if I do extra chores, could I get money for them? Ooh, and then could I trade chore skips with my friends for their money? I wonder how many chore skips they get, maybe we could put all our chore skips together and…
Me: OK so listen, I know these all seem like great ideas, but they can actually end up pretty badly. Let me tell you about 2008….
That’s one highly leveraged squirrel video