There is a doll whose name is Cayla. She has a pink skirt, a denim jacket, and a bluetooth connection. Like many toys, she can have a conversation with us. While these dolls are all Caylas, their manu…
The Two Sides of a Pilot’s Decisions
Involving safety, airline pilots’ decisions during takeoff, flight, and landing reflect cost and benefit tradeoffs that their passengers rarely recognize.…
What a Government Shutdown Does to Each of Us
A government shutdown is again in the news. The key date is December 21. If federal agencies without funding do not get their money by then, they have to follow their shutdown rules. I suspect most of…
How Uber Should Apologize for a Delay
Because a firm like Uber loses revenue from unhappy riders who had delayed arrivals, we could say we are looking at apology economics.…
The 5 Stars That People Get (And Don’t Deserve)
There are some good reasons that most of us are contributing to a reputation inflation that diminishes the meaning of an Uber driver rating score.…
Everything You Might Not Know About Government Shutdowns
While a government shutdown could just be called cutback because of an appropriations gap, a closer look reveals a fascinating host of issues and costs.…
Why Bitcoin Is Not Money
By spending bitcoin, we see the multiple reasons that calling it a cryptocurrency can be misleading because it is not money.…
Why We Will or Won’t Stand in Line
Apple’s iPhone X went on sale Friday. At their Palo Alto store, the first person in line arrived Tuesday evening at 9:30. By late Thursday the queue was described as “75+ chairs long.̶…
The Cost of Commuting
Average one-way daily commuting time in the U.S. was 26 minutes and 36 seconds during 2016. As a benchmark though, those 26 1/2 (or so) minutes say a lot more. How Long We Commute Comparing the averag…
Should Colleges Become More Like Robin Hood?
The benefits of a STEM major are less than they appear because a college’s cost of education for STEM students can be disproportionately expensive.…