The number of hours we study is down and our grades are up. Between 1961 and 2003, full time college students diminished their study time from 40 to 27 hours a week. And yet, they have been getting higher grades.…
Microeconomics
The Cost of Conservation
By Madeleine Vance, guest blogger and student at Kent Place School. Saving water is supposed to allow us to cut down costs. For the drought-stricken city of Wichita Falls in Texas, this is not the case. In 2013, Wichita Falls’s…
Problems With the Unemployment Rate
Almost everyone is saying the unemployment rate is a problem. At 6.6% and with job creation at 113,000, the numbers reflect a troubled jobs market. The problem, though, might be the statistic. We began collecting employment statistics during the 1880s.…
A Surprising Connection Between Tennessee and the Affordable Care Act
There is probably a tradeoff between health insurance and the demand for jobs. During 2005 in Tennessee, the demand for jobs increased when 170,000 people lost their Medicaid health insurance coverage. Researchers call that jobs/health insurance tie, the “employment lock.” Looking at…
1930s Noise Pollution
In 1932, the NYC Noise Abatement Commission received a letter from Mr. N. Schmuck of 137 Milton Street in Brooklyn about the noise from a nearby pickle factory. Other 1930s noise complaints included early morning ice deliveries, “ear splitting shrieks…
Brazil’s World Cup To-Do List
Preparing its transportation infrastructure for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, Brazil has one giant to-do list. In the air and on the ground, it has the participants, the officials and the fans that have to be moved around.…
The Reason That Certain Quarterbacks Earn More
A 3.2 difference in a facial symmetry score can mean an extra $378,000 in pay for a quarterback. According to research from economist David Berri on salaries from 1995-2009, if a quarterback is better looking, his salary will exceed others…
Why Do Young Adults Live With Their Parents?
In Slovakia, Bulgaria, Greece, Malta and Italy, young people, age 25-34, live with their parents. But not in Denmark, Finland Sweden, and Norway. Below you can see the country stats: The Reasons Pew Research provided some insight about multigenerational U.S. households. In 2012, returning…
Have We Halved the Deficit?
In the State-of-the-Union, President Obama said, “Our deficits–cut by more than half.” Looking at the federal deficit as a percent of GDP, we can say that the deficit is much lower than 4 years ago. BUT… The deficit was an unusually…
One Reason That $1.1 Trillion is Not So Much
The Congress just agreed on $1.1 trillion in federal spending. But let’s look a bit more closely… Each year, I give my class a federal budget graph and ask them to identify the relative size of 17 main spending categories.…