Environment

December 29, 2015
everyday economics and the birth rate
Published by Elaine Schwartz at December 29, 2015
Categories

How a Soap Opera Affected Brazil’s Fertility Rate

During the past 40 years, Brazil's fertility rates declined. One cause was the new values that soap operas conveyed to an uneducated rural population.

Do you like it?
Read more
November 13, 2015
Published by Elaine Schwartz at November 13, 2015
Categories

The Problem With Bovine Burps

Reducing environmental externalities from greenhouse gas emissions involves the methane that cows and other ruminants burp.

Do you like it?
Read more
October 25, 2015
Published by Elaine Schwartz at October 25, 2015
Categories

The Diner’s Dilemma: Should You Divide the Check Equally With Friends?

Like the tragedy of the commons, splitting a bill among friends at a restaurant involves an individual's marginal benefit and the group's marginal cost.

Do you like it?
Read more
September 15, 2015
impact of recycling
Published by Elaine Schwartz at September 15, 2015
Categories

Why Doing Good is Not Always Easy

By recognizing the tradeoffs of recycling, preserving endangered species and improving world health, doing good could become more productive.

Do you like it?
Read more
August 30, 2015
Published by Elaine Schwartz at August 30, 2015
Categories

Why a Life Needs a Price Tag

Although it seems callous, for safety regulation like speed limits and for victims' compensation like 9/11 we need to quantify the value of a life.

Do you like it?
Read more
August 12, 2015
Weekly Economic New Roundup and tall building construction
Published by Elaine Schwartz at August 12, 2015
Categories

How to Deal With Skyscraper Shadows

Whenever a new skyscraper is built, we can ask whether its shadow violates our property rights when it eliminates the sunlight in a city's parks.

Do you like it?
Read more
August 2, 2015
Sanitation gap and human capital
Published by Elaine Schwartz at August 2, 2015
Categories

The World’s Sanitation Gap

A production possibilities graph can display the land, labor and capital underutilization that inadequate sanitation creates and indicate a constrained GDP.

Do you like it?
Read more
July 29, 2015
weekly economic news roundup and gasoline prices
Published by Elaine Schwartz at July 29, 2015
Categories

Paying More at the Gas Pump

Because of a low gasoline tax, the Highway Trust Fund does not have enough money to maintain the transportation infrastructure of highways and mass transit.

Do you like it?
Read more
July 23, 2015
Everyday Economics: and garbage recycling regulation
Published by Elaine Schwartz at July 23, 2015
Categories

Exposing What You Hide in Your Garbage

Weighing cost and benefit for Seattle's recycling environmental regulation involves privacy, dollars, time, and respect for the law and our environment.

Do you like it?
Read more