Category Everyday economics
What will really old, stupid, and uneducated people do?
Typepad puts almost all my comments in spam. Me! Don't they know who I am? I can fish them out of the spam filter when it's my own post, but it means I have given up commenting on other people's posts, both here and on other blogs, if they use Typepad. Because my comments go […]
Why do people put stuff that isn’t recyclable into the recycling bin?
In Ottawa, plastic and glass recyclables go into a "blue bin", and are picked up once every two weeks as part of the regular household garbage collection. Styrofoam is not recyclable. It has never been recyclable. The instructions on the City of Ottawa website are clear: place these items in your regular garbage. It's not like […]
Academia’s not-so-dirty secret
It happens at universities across the country. Professors do it. Administrative staff do it. Some sneak onto campus on evenings or weekends, and quietly do it when no one is around. Others are bold enough to do it during regular office hours. I'm talking about cleaning. Dusting. Vacuuming. Sweeping. And, for the truly bold: Painting. Unblocking […]
Can IKEA Stay Profitable?
As part of moving my daughter into her new abode last week, I had an experience with IKEA, which got me thinking about whether the giant furniture retailer can continue its high growth and profitability. Everyone is of course familiar with the basic approach used by this very successful company. IKEA provides innovative, stylish low […]
Flea Market Economics
At a flea market in Perth, Ontario (Slogan: "We buy junk and sell antiques"), I spotted a pair of used phones. The two are identical in all respects except colour and price. Why should a blue phone have an asking price $70 higher than a yellow phone? It's a simple matter of supply and demand.
The Legend of the Auto Quota: Separating fact from fiction
For people who purport to be skeptical of normative analysis, economists are awfully fond of morality tales. One of our favourites is The Legend of the Auto Quota. Once upon a time, the US imposed a quota on imports of Japanese automobiles. Japanese automakers responded by upgrading; packing every car they sold full of features. […]
Wealth, Religion and Inequality
In nineteenth century Canada, religion was a very important institutional and social force and via its social networks affected employment opportunities and ultimately income. Via both direct and indirect effects, religious affiliation invariably affected asset accumulation and wealth and by extension must also have affected wealth inequality. Indeed, when it comes to examining the wealth […]
Oprah Winfrey, victim of racism – or marketing?
Oprah, one of the richest women in the world, was in Zurich, Switzerland, when an assistant at an upscale handbag shop told her the purse she was looking at (worth over $35,000) was “too expensive” for her. [Globe and Mail] Winfrey – and just about every single media outlet in North America – interpreted the incident as […]
Love, paternalism, selfishness – and money.
Smokers smoke. Gamblers gamble. Drinkers drink. Why should anyone else care? Some non-economists believe that economics assumes selfishness. Each person is only concerned about themselves, and their material consumption. Selfishness can be represented formally like this: u=u(x) (1) A person's "utility", their well-being or happiness, is a function, u, of their consumption of goods and […]
Crime and Macroeconomics
The Banca D’Italia – Italy’s central bank – supports and promotes a wide range of research activity including quite a bit even in the area of economic history, which for an economic historian like myself is especially heart warming to see. The ongoing Euro Zone economic downturn and crisis naturally also spawns a lot of […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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