How to Really Understand the CPI

Because the CPI is an index showing percent changes, it is helpful sometimes to see actual price changes for items like new cars.

Some New Spin For Vinyl Records

Rather than new technology, the recent surge in the popularity of vinyl records represents a return to the past.

February 2020 Friday’s e-links: Animated Economic History

Our first February’s e-links is a “bar chart race” from economist Mark Perry that perfectly, in less than 30 seconds, summarizes U.S. trade from 1992-2019.

One Reason For High Hospital Prices

By looking at inflation rates for tradable and nontradable goods and services, we can identify one reason for high hospital prices.

A New Kind of Map Where Norway is Next to Peru

To grasp the huge size of the U.S. GDP we can identify countries that have similar nominal output to individual states like California and Brazil.

The Mystery of the $300 Textbook

Because the college textbook market is a monopoly for each book in which the instructor selects the books and students buy it, prices have skyrocketed.