Perhaps it’s the perfect storm for crude oil prices. Grounded planes, consumer lockdowns, and skyrocketing unemployment all add up to less need for oil. Meanwhile, with the Saudis gushing crude,…
Economic Ideas
Much more than money, economics is about tradeoffs. Thinking economically involves cost and benefit, marginal analysis and seeing that there is no free lunch. Econlife tries to convey these economic ideas, which serve as the foundation of economics and help people make decisions personally, professionally and as voters.
The Impact of Export Curbs on Medical Equipment
When nations try to guarantee their domestic medical equipment supply through trade restrictions, the policy could backfire.…
What Would John Maynard Keynes Have Said About Stimulus Spending?
To the Great Depression and the Great Recession, we can now add coronavirus stimulus spending as examples of John Maynard Keynes’s philosophy.…
What Will Happen to Restaurant Food?
As business closings multiply, redeploying food from restaurants to supermarket consumers has required changes along the supply chain.…
How Golf is Like Dior Perfume
From Dior to GM, when we look at golf, sanitizer, and ventilators, the production changes necessitated by the coronavirus depends on the factory.…
The Economic Message Sent by a Smell
By smelling the economy in New York City, London, and Barcelona, we can answer questions about past and present production.…
Coronavirus, a Baby Boom, and a Divorce Spike
Evidence from past natural disasters indicate that the coronavirus impact could relate to the birth rate and the divorce rate.…
The Cash That We Stash During a Disaster
In the past, and now, when there is political and economic uncertainty, we’ve had global demand for U.S. $100 bills increase.…
How (Not) to Eliminate Face Mask Shortages
Whether looking at rationing, price caps, trade restrictions, or the market, the problem of face mask shortages is tough to solve.…
What We Did Right During the 1918-1919 Pandemic
Formulating coronavirus policy, politicians and physicians can look at the successful non-pharmaceutical interventions during the 1918-1918 pandemic.…