The (Economic) Invasion of the Fire Ant

The economic side of Australia’s fire ant invasion includes accepting the massive eradication opportunity cost.

The Many Sides of New Jersey’s Plastic Bag Ban

Deciding if plastic bag bans are effective, we can look at the upside and downside in New Jersey and several recent studies.

My Book of the Month: Why An Address Matters

Looking at “The Address Book What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power,” we can see how addresses matter.

The Reopening Role of the Restroom

A big issue with little discussion, restroom problems need to be solved as we plan to reopen after coronavirus lockdowns.

Learn With Elaine: How Transparency Transformed Food Shopping

When the development of cellophane let us have self-service food shopping for meat and produce, it started a retailing revolution that economists call creative destruction.

The Spillover Created By a New Coffee Cup Lid

Creating considerable negative spillover, the Solo Traveler coffee (and tea) cup lid could be replaced by a vastly better design.

When a Tariff Is Like a Butterfly

While we can identify the billions of dollars of goods affected by U.S. China trade war, the tariff impact has also been invisible.

The Connection Between Traffic Jams and Jobs

As the downside of low unemployment, traffic congestion can have an invisible cost that relates to time, gas, and aggravation.

The New Food Technology That Could Change What We Eat

Whether about cows or chicken nuggets, sometimes seemingly insignificant new food technology can have an unexpectedly massive impact.

When a Tax Rate Is Not as Simple as It Sounds

Referring to “The Son of Man,” Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte said, “Everything we see hides another thing.” Instead, Magritte could have been describing corporate taxes. The U.S. Corporate Tax Cut National The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA)…