Although plastic bag bans do help the environment, they also create unintended consequences that might make them less desirable.…
When Awards Give Us More or Less Than We Expect
While awards are all about recognition, inspiration, and appreciation, sometimes they are not exactly what we expect them to be.…
When Free Money Didn’t Do What It Was Supposed To Do
The preliminary results for Finland’s two-year guaranteed income experiment appears to have created more questions than it answered.…
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 …
Do We Care About Calorie Labels?
With the arrival of mandatory calorie labels at large establishments and soon at smaller ones, we can ask if their impact is predictable.…
When Money Is Not the Best Incentive
Because a fine is supposed to be a deterrent, six Israeli day-care centers were surprised when their late pickup fee had unintended consequences.…
Where Retaliatory Tariffs Create Unintended Consequences
It will be rather complicated when retaliatory agricultural tariffs, aluminum protection, and crop payment supports all hit New Madrid County, Missouri.…
The FDA’s Label Problem
When their requirements are outdated or illogical, FDA guidelines can create misleading labels for foods like eggs and skim milk.…
How a Chinese Smartphone Could Be Made in America
When the U.S. proclaimed a seven-year ban on doing business with China’s ZTE, the stock price of Acacia Communications plunged: We could say the butterfly effect kicked in. Initially academic, t…
What a Strawberry and a Chicken Say About Free Trade
More than governments negotiating agreements, free trade is about the variety of strawberries, chickens, pickup trucks and pencils that we can buy.…