A New Kind of (Japanese) Stress

Requiring shorter refrigerators and adult diapers, Japan’s aging population is creating demographic stress as their numbers grow.

Curing Saudi Arabia’s Dutch Disease

The Saudi king’s golden escalators are examples of their affluence from oil and the need for Saudi diversification from oil.

Weekly Economic News Roundup: From Millennials to McRibs

Connecting economics, current events and history, our weekly economic news roundup includes marginal McRibs and a surprising way to control pollution.

Managing the McRib

Knowing that McRib supply is not predictable, the fans of the pork, barbecue sauce, onions and pickle sandwich are delighted whenever it resurfaces.

Why Corporate Taxes Are Never Simple

Similar to a Magritte surrealistic painting, corporate taxes are not as simple as they appear because publicized numbers hide the real facts and incentives.

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.

How Affluence Relates to Pollution

China’s first three five-year plans had no mention of the environment. Then in plans five through nine, there was more. And now, looking at plans 11 to 13, we would see that 5% of all words relate to ecology, energy or the environment. Where are…

The Millennials Who Live With Mom

Looking at millennials’ households in the U.S. and beyond, we find a surprisingly large proportion of young adults living with their parents.

Weekly Economic News Roundup: From Pizza to Potato Chips

Weekly News Roundup Sunday 04.16.17 The impact of a potato chip shortage… Monday 04.17.17 Where robots are in our lives… Tuesday 04.18.17 Little known tax facts… Wednesday 04.19.17 Why we give a bigger taxi tip…   Thursday 04.20.17 What socks say about…

Where Smokers Smuggle Cigarettes

New York City just proposed another hike in the price of cigarettes. Instead of the $10.50 minimum, a pack might soon cost no less than $13.00. Historically high, NYC’s cigarette tax should remain the most potent in the country. Yes? Perhaps.…