What Kids See: In "Economics of Recess," T.J. returns to school after a week of illness and discovers the students are trading a new type of sticker called "Monstickers." After realizing you need Monstickers to do everything from lounging on the grass to drinking from the water fountain, T.J. embarks on a quest to become the kid with the most Monstickers on campus, losing his friends in the process.
What Adults See: The entire episode is a stinging critique of mindless capitalism, with Monstickers taking the place of money.
T.J. comes to own the most number of Monstickers through a shrewd combination of trading and investing. However, greed soon overcomes T.J.'s normally warm and generous nature, and he becomes obsessed with owning Monstickers for their own sake, even though it leads to trouble with his friends. Soon, T.J. starts to resemble a rich tycoon who constantly worries about his money and forgets to enjoy life in the process.
The final lesson about the vagaries of capitalism comes at the end of the episode, when T.J. comes to school only to discover that Monstickers are out, and Lick 'n' Stickers are in, leaving his personal collection virtually without value and proving the value of diversifying your portfolio (and of investing in durable assets rather than passing fads, like Beanie Babies).
