The closer you look at ethical investing for university endowments, the more you see the tradeoffs. The headline coverage began when Stanford announced it would “not make direct investments in coal mining companies.” Explaining, Stanford’s President John Hennessy said, “Stanford has a responsibility as a global citizen…
One Reason That the Common App and Standard Oil Are Similar
Who would have expected the Sherman Antitrust Act to relate to college applications? In 1890, the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed because large firms were acting “in restraint of trade.” Supporting Adam Smith, the goal was to control business size so that the market…
Handy Ukraine Facts
When 2066 Americans were asked where Ukraine is located, as the dots on the following map show, the replies were rather scattered. While 16% of the respondents knew their geography, the rest were off by an average of 1800 miles. The redder…
The Monetary Policy Mistakes of a Babysitting Co-op
There once was a French economist whose name was Say. Proclaiming that “Supply Creates Its Own Demand,” Jean-Baptiste Say (1767-1832) entered economic history with Say’s Law. All he meant was that workers are also consumers. The money you receive for producing a good or a service…
Energy Efficiency Surprises
Our Wednesday Environmental Issue: Trying to optimize energy efficiency, we might have unexpected results. First, where we live… Referring to an environmentally friendly community where he once lived, New Yorker writer David Owen described his 750 square foot dwelling. 77% of the households in his community did…
Inflation: What A Billion Prices Tell Us
Every year, my class meets Harriet Shaw through a PBS NewsHour broadcast from 1991. An economic assistant for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), she is a professional shopper who tracks prices. In the newscast, we follow her up and down store aisles until…
Do we spend more on Mother's Day or Father's Day?
Our Monday gender issue: While approximately 85% of us celebrate Mother’s Day, for Father’s Day, maybe 78%. Then, the numbers diminish after we reach 44 years old. And, by the time we are 65, there are only 60% (or so) of us that participate…
Airline Product Differentiation: It's About More than Just Plane Comfort
Whether departing on Imperial Airways from Great Britain or Pan Am in the US, for most of the 20th century you had no need for business class. Only the wealthy could afford to fly. In 1934, anyone with £180 ($17,000 today) could travel on…
How and why does UPS get my package to me so fast?
Occasionally, I have asked the UPS man who is always so gracious to wait a moment at my front door while I go to the kitchen. Taking a minute or so, I grab an apple for him. In a Planet Money interview,…
What You Might Not Know About Alibaba's Jack Ma
Seeing the Alibaba IPO in the headlines, I wanted to share these excerpts from a 2006 CNN interview of Jack Ma: About his firm’s name: “One day I was in San Francisco in a coffee shop, and I was thinking…
