A Global Look at the 737 MAX

More than a U.S., airplane, the Boeing 737 MAX is made from components that come from the 600 companies in its global supply chain.

How Hershey Kisses and COPEC Are Like Oil and OPEC

Hershey kisses and COPEC might be like petroleum and OPEC if the Ivory Coast and Ghana are able to elevate cocoa bean prices.

Why Taylor Swift Likes Slow Ticketing

Wondering why concert ticket prices have gone up during the past decade, we can look at Taylor Swift’s 2018 Reputation tour.

The Problem With Finding the Right Size

The massive volume of online clothing returns.takes us to the value of standardized dress sizes and the transactions costs of free shipping.

How a (Resource) Curse Created a Chicken Shortage

Shown by Nigeria’s chicken shortage, a country’s oil wealth can become a resource curse when it prevents an economy from diversifying.

The Mystery of the Cheap Turkey

Lower turkey prices just before Thanksgiving are an economic mystery because a spike in demand is supposed to make products more expensive.

Why Romaine Lettuce is Like a 737 Max

In 1998, a batch of pencils had to be recalled. Destined for grade school classes, the pencils said “Too Cool To Do Drugs.” Problems developed when the kids sharpened the pencils and instead they said “Cool To Do Drugs.” When…

What Uber Can Teach Us About Tips

Looking at 40 million trips, researchers concluded that Uber’s tips can be surprising because of the rider characteristics that determine how much.

How a Common Application Affected College Admissions

At highly selective schools, 2019 college admission rates were pretty low: Harvard: 4.5% Yale: 5.91% Stanford: 4.3% in 2018 (They are no longer releasing the number.) But we are looking at a tiny proportion of the higher education population. At…

The Meal That Florida Wants Us To Eat

If you skipped breakfast this morning, then you might be contributing to Florida’s worries about orange juice consumption.