Category Everyday economics
The lunch problem
When I first joined Carleton, just three out of thirty professors in the economics department were female. Then one retired, one moved to Montreal, and I was the only female professor around on a regular basis. For the most part, I didn't mind. If I was the kind of person who objected to being in […]
Bike share programs: good feelings, bad economics?
My local mall does not provide short-term bicycle rentals. It also does not sell roast-lamb-and-mint flavour potato chips, or jeans in a size 32 inch waist/36 inch leg. I would like to be able to purchase all three of these goods and services. For the last two items on the list, the intuition of the […]
Visible minorities: Distinctly Canadian
As far as I know, Canada is the only country that divides its population into "visible minorities" and "non-visible minorities." In this post, I describe how, and why, Canada counts people this way. A person's visible minority status is ascertained by asking: "Is this person….White, South Asian (e.g., East Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, etc.), Chinese, Black, […]
Of dogs and data
Over the past year or so, cities across Canada have been creating open data portals (see, for example, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax). But Toronto's is special – it has data on cat and dog licences. The data reveal the most popular dog breeds in Toronto in 2011:
Why bikes are cooler than cars
The car is in decline. The Economist says so, and so does the New York Times. Cars are boring; bikes are cooler. Here are the top 10 reasons why. 10. Cars are for stuff People from the pre-computer era have books, DVDs, TVs, stereos, big photo albums, board games, and playing cards. They need cars […]
Three Short Observations on the Economics of Waterways
The Rhine River is the heart of significant economic activity as a European transport and commercial corridor. Running 1,233 km from the Alps to the North Sea, its rich economic hinterland generates commercial traffic, which made it attractive as a source of revenue for regional lords and masters for centuries. Hence, the numerous castles, which […]
Financial literacy in the popcorn aisle
A short financial literacy quiz: Take a look at the picture on the right. How much does one box of popcorn cost? The correct answer, for this particular box, is $1.50. However it is not obvious that "two for $3" implies "one for $1.50". In other contexts, customers must make a minimum purchase to obtain […]
Taxation and Economic Growth
I had a bit of an intellectual crisis this evening as I pondered the conventional wisdom in economics regarding the choice between reducing consumption taxes or income taxes. Briefly put, the simple conventional wisdom is that taxes on consumption are preferred to income taxes because they encourage saving and long-term capital formation and economic growth. […]
A day in the life of a behavioural economist
A key insight of behavioural economics is that people don't always do what is in their own long term interests. Our inner planner sets goals – complete that paper, write that referee's report, floss. Our inner doer – who has all the perseverance of Homer Simpson – fails to follow through, and sabotages the planner's best intentions. […]
What’s a man worth on the dating market?
Last fall I stopped talking about the economics of gender, and began talking about the economics of sex. It was wonderful. So much can be discussed under the rubric of economics of sex. Take, for example, the pick-up artist phenomenon, described in books like The Game. It's like Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer books, urging men to be alphas, take […]
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