The power of OPEC as a cartel that controls oil prices through quotas on its members might be a myth.
What An Unemployment Rate Does Not Tell You
A single statistic like the unemployment rate for Japan, the European Union and the U.S. can be misleading until we look more closely at what it represents.
The Bills in Detroit and Elsewhere
Whether looking at the Buffalo Bills unexpectedly traveling to Detroit, college or high school football, the marginal cost of travel is rising.
How To Make a $200 Sneaker Worth $8000
As an oligopoly, Nike uses limited edition sneakers, coveted by Sneakerheads, to compete because they create cache, a cool image, and eliminate discounting.
Our Weekly Roundup: From Free Music to Cheap Oil
This week’s everyday economics involves opportunity cost, regulation, behavioral economics, GDP, automation, innovation, supply and demand and productivity.
How to Become More Productive
Shown by Fitbits, workplace output goals and division of labor, when implicit and explicit targets increase self-control, they boost productivity.
Hey, Spotify. Taylor Swift called. She wants her money.
With the music industry moving from CDs to streaming, firms like Spotify have created new supply and demand and new incentives for performers and providers.
It Ain’t Easy Being Pretty
When Job discrimination based on gender targets to women’s clothing, body type and make-up, it can relate to a dominant social group and patriarchal bias.
The Robots Are Taking Over! (Our Most Mundane Jobs)
Future job creation will involve non-routine cognitive jobs at the top and manually varied jobs at the bottom with less in the middle because of automation.
The Downside of Cheap Oil
Cheap oil creates a tradeoff for GDP growth between a consumer spending more and oil producers cutting back on jobs and investment.
