During the 18th century, Sweden gave cash to its “spies” in England so they could buy copper and iron production secrets. Meanwhile, England issued a patent to a chemist who just returned from Russia with a new brewing method. Moving in the other…
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.
Gender Issues: The Real Work Home Tradeoffs
Our Monday gender issue focus I can still recall reading Anne-Marie Slaughter’s explanation of why women could not “have it all.” Published almost exactly 2 years ago in The Atlantic, the article focused on Dr. Slaughter’s decision to leave a high level State Department position in Washington, DC.…
How Can You Add Value to Your Free Parking Space?
NYC has lots of cheap parking spaces. The result? I (and many like me) have circled blocks, added to greenhouse gases, used precious hours and exacerbated congestion, all to find an empty muni-meter or free spot. As UCLA Professor Donald Shoup has said through…
How Wrong Are BLS Jobs Numbers?
China and Nepal used to disagree about the height of Mount Everest. Nepal counted the snow caps while China just included the rock height. Consequently, Nepal said the peak was 4 meters higher than China. Then, in 2010, China said okay, the…
Software's Creative Destruction
During 1989, a computer scientist wrote a memo in which he explained how information could be shared through a computer network. Two years later we had the first web pages and by 1998, one quarter of the US population was using them. Just…
The Regulations that Food Truck Chefs Hate
In Chef, recently fired upscale restaurant chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) has no job offers, a viral video to cope with, and a life that is spiraling south. I won’t divulge the ending but the movie was about a food truck, the…
Opportunity Cost & The Meat Eater's Dilemma
Our Wednesday environment focus: Are you a meat avoider, eater or reducer? On a scale of meat consumption, we can place the avoiders at one end, the eaters at the other, and the reducers in the middle because they are meatless for at least one day each week. Where…
How Can Coffee Consumption Be an Economic Indicator?
If you live in northeast Montana, the nearest Starbucks might be 192 miles from home while you could choose among 62 Starbucks between 42nd and 59th Street in Manhattan. Beyond the US, Italy has no Starbucks, Canada has 1396 and China, 1219. And, except for Morocco and Egypt, Starbucks has…
Gender Issues: The Invention of Wings
Our Monday gender issues focus Combine 1 great read, 2 crucial issues and 3 memorable women (2 who really existed) and you get The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. Through a lens that focuses on slavery and women’s rights, The…
Should GDP Include Illegal Drug Deals?
In 1987, Italy decided to include its “off-the-books” economy in its GDP. The result was an 18% boost. Now, further complying with EU accounting regulations, Italy will add illegal drugs, prostitution and black market alcohol and prostitution. Announcing a similar policy,…