The Highs and Lows of Trendy Food

The hot dog could be our newest trendy food. Calling the hot dog the “it” restaurant order of the summer, the Wall Street Journal elevated the lowly frank. However, more than the dog, the reason appears to be the toppings.…

How Covid-19 Changed Our Spending

There was an unusual spike in demand that began during March 2020. It signaled the beginning of the lockdown: Spirits had the largest gain. But that was not the whole story. Consumer Spending Changes More Our spending patterns changed during…

Office Paper, Pizza Boxes, and the Pandemic

The pandemic has created the incentive to recycle more (cheesy) pizza boxes because we are recycling less office paper.

A Surprise From Clorox

In a 2020 Axios/Harris Survey, participants were asked which company had the best corporate reputation in the U.S. The Clorox Company was first in a top 100 list. These were the top ten: Last year, neither Clorox nor Hershey was…

What We Can See Through the Ghost Whopper

While most of us cannot buy the newest Halloween burgers at Burger King, we will see ads for the Ghost Whopper that could increase our demand.

The Lid on the Pot Industry

While states find it’s tough to predict marijuana tax revenue, they can assume that higher rates will nudge consumers toward black markets.

Why It’s Now the Pits For Avocados

Although Fresh Direct did not really eliminate the avadcado pit, they could more accurately tell us that they were increasing avocado prices.

Beer Cans and Aluminum Tariffs

Craft brewers are upsizing to 16-ounce cans. Whereas U.S. beer sales are down by 1%, they are up 40% for craft beer in 16-ounce cans. A beer can primer: Because the beer industry uses 36 billion cans a year, they…

The Upside of Uber’s Surge Pricing

An Uber economist tells us that people are more likely to schedule a ride during a surge when their cell phone battery is low. Where are we going? To the supply side of Uber. Uber Driver Behavior A typical taxi…

Weekly Roundup: From Nibbling Nachos to Sipping Starbucks

Our everyday economics includes risk, externalities, purchasing power, complementary goods, capitalism, money supply, human capital, and innovation.