Category Everyday economics
All-you-can-eat sushi restaurants should not exist. Why do they?
All-you-can-eat restaurants should not exist. People with large appetites crowd into all-you-can-eat establishments. These greedy customers eat vast amounts, driving up the restaurants' costs. Restaurants have no choice but to increase prices, but this turns off people with small appetites. Eventually the only people who eat at the restaurant are hulking athletes, and the restaurant […]
The Economic Role of Monarchy
In the wake of the abdication of King Juan Carlos of Spain, the New York Times ran a short piece on monarchies noting that 12 monarchies still survive in Europe with eight of them being liberal democracies – Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. Incidentally, these Scandinavian monarchies in particular are […]
Some Miscellaneous Thoughts on the Economics of Social Interaction
Economics is really all about incentives and their effect on behaviour at the micro and macro level. My training in economics emphasized the role of prices in communicating information about scarcity and opportunity cost and providing the incentives that affect economic behaviour. Yet, all of our economic behaviour is also rooted on an institutional framework […]
Countries as homes
I was up late last night for the results of the EU elections. In the UK, the UK Independence Party came first with 27.5% of the vote (Labour second with 25.5% and Conservatives third with 24%). In France, the Front National came first with 25%. Both UKIP and the FN want to withdraw from the […]
Action bias and the political economy of penalty kicks
Most penalty kicks result in a goal; this is why soccer players go to such comical lengths to draw a penalty. The distance between the ball and the goal is so short that goaltenders don't have time to react; they have to commit to a strategy as the ball is being kicked. The usual strategy […]
Police, Crime and the Great Canadian Crime Drop
It would appear fiscal restraint has finally caught up with police services across the country. The recent release of Police Resources in Canada, 2013 by Statistics Canada documents a decline in police strength after nearly a decade of increases as well as a slowdown in per capita spending. The crime rate, however continues to fall.
Missing the Target in Canada
Target’s retail invasion of Canada seems to have developed parallels to Napoleon’s invasion of Russia – it is fighting a losing battle in a cold winter. Target’s northern front lost 941 million dollars in 2013. A CBC news story reports that: “That expansion has been hammered by supply issues, as there are frequent reports of […]
Within versus Between Sample Variation, or Why an Equal Marriage Means More Sex
It's clickbait, New York Times style: "Does a More Equal Marriage Mean Less Sex?" Spurred by findings of a paper by Sabrino Kornrich, Julie Brines and Katarina Leupp published in the American Sociological Review, the article argues that, "too much similarity in egalitarian marriages leads to boredom and decreased sexual frequency". In general, "the less gender differentiation, the […]
Fleet, GDP and 1914
This year will mark the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I and my attention this week was drawn to a copy of J. Griffin and Company’s The Naval Annual 1913. It is a sweeping 520-page review of the state of the world’s navies with details on individual ships. The naval arms race […]
Russet apples and the Sam-I-Am theory of affirmative action
For years, I've been avoiding buying russet apples. They have such unattractive tawny brown skins. Not like the smooth, pink-cheeked Royal Galas and MacIntoshes. Until this fall. "What kind of apples would you like?", I asked my out-of-town visitors. "Well, russets are the best, of course, but I doubt you'll be able to get them. […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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