Used in ice cream, India’s guar gum is also so necessary for fracking that the rise of oil prices created a guar bean bubble.…
Looking at a Global Supply Chain With a Smile (Curve)
A smile curve is a handy way to see that the global supply chain for technology is much more complicated than a Made-in-China label.…
Where Smartphones Have to be Clever
Targeting a less literate, poorer population, developing nations’ smartphones are different from their “sisters” in industrialized countries.…
What Most of Us Don’t Know About the G20
Predictable and surprising, G20 facts about the group’s countries and last week’s meetings show how we remain interconnected.…
The Mystery of the Costly Crustacean
Combine Maine’s lobster glut with China’s lobster demand and you come close to solving the mystery of why lobster prices have not sunk.…
Throwback Thursday: Sending Tanks (and Thanks) to a Canal
As our first Throwback Thursday, we look at the present and the past with the 2,000 barrel beer tanks that traveled on the Erie Canal.…
Why Toyota is an American Car
A source of jobs and economic growth, the leading manufacturer of American made cars is not a U.S. firm because of globalization.…
The Mystery of the Disappearing Avocado
If your favorite veggie wrap no longer has avocado in it, you can ask your economist to explain avocado prices with supply and demand.…
A Tale of Two T-Shirts
Covering 500 or so miles, a made-in-America t-shirt supply chain can be very different from a globally sourced t-shirt that travels more than 15,000 miles.…
Why the U.S. Government Cares About a Snuggie
Deciding whether Snuggies is a blanket or a pullover garment is about more than a name. The outcome decided the protective tariff it would owe.…