Like a dysfunctional family with members who dislike each other, the EU stays together because of the benefits of David Ricardo’s comparative advantage.…
Weekly Roundup: From Marijuana to the Metric System
Our everyday economics include globalization, opportunity cost, inflation, employment, monetary policy, negative externalities, recession, business cycle.…
Why the Metric Switch is so Tough
The expense and complexities of switching to the metric system have prevented the change, and have affected how standard weights and measures help globalization.…
The Ebola Impact on Economic Health
More than the disease itself, ebola’s GDP impact from aversion behavior is rippling through West Africa domestically and in international trade.…
A Command Economy: Playing the Game
Queue is now a game. But not always. In Poland, during the 1970s, you might have taken an hour or two off from work, rotating with a brother or sister, to stand in line. Everyone could have been waiti…
Greek Red Tape
Our story begins with 3 Greek entrepreneurs who want to create an e-commerce business selling olive products. It ends as Oliveshop.com begins to flourish with orders from the U.S., Australia, Japan, M…
Friction Free Clicks
Which friction minimizing invention received a patent in 1999? Amazon 1-Click. Described by Amazon in their application for patent 5,960,411, the purchaser just hits a button that activates the moveme…
A Line Primer
Done with grocery shopping, you scan the registers and select the shortest line. Standing there for 2 minutes, your time flies. Another minute? Okay. But then, according to research, when the time hit…
Waiting In Line
During August evenings in Nantucket, the lines are long at the Juice Bar. Outside each of two doors is a line stretching along the sidewalk. Once you enter the doors into the shop, you can select…