Category Frances Woolley
Competition matters, not ownership.
A Montréal-Toronto ticket on the Greyhound bus costs $30, advance fare. An Ottawa-Toronto ticket costs $49 (no advance fare is available). Since the Montréal-Toronto bus stops in Ottawa, savvy customers buy a Montréal-Toronto ticket, and just hop on the bus in Ottawa, saving themselves $20. Why does the bus ride from Montréal to Toronto cost […]
What were they thinking?
One of the best lines I heard at this year's CEA meetings was delivered by Chris Ragan, at a session on the Euro organized by Paul Jenkins.
The theft-proof bicycle helmet
I figured my bicycle helmet would never get stolen. Helmets, by offering protection in the event of an accident, appeal to those who are averse to risk, who worry about bad things happening. Thieves love risk, or are at least indifferent to it, as evidenced by the fact that they engage in risky behaviour like […]
Would eliminating milk quotas be a Pareto improvement?
Today I looked at last week's public finance exam, and got an all-too-familiar sinking feeling: I've asked a question that's almost impossible to answer. Here it is: Currently the production of milk in Canada is restricted through a system of quotas. Eliminating quotas on milk production in Canada is best described as:a. A potential Pareto […]
Canada: No country for old men (or women)
The Canadian population is aging, and getting old sucks – for economies, as well as for people. There is nothing that can stop an individual from aging. Not face cream. Not hot yoga.
When men and women are miles apart….
The Globe and Mail website doesn't cope with data and graphics easily, so I'm reproducing my most recent Economy Lab post, along with data tables that couldn't be included in the G&M piece, here:
Defence may be a public good. Military spending isn’t.
Public goods are, as defined by economists, non-rival, meaning that the cost of an additional person using the good is zero, and non-excludable, meaning that it is technologically impossible, or prohibitively costly, to prevent people from enjoying the goods. When something is a pure public good, private markets will fail to supply it in adequate […]
Mary Jane and Milton
Milton Friedman – Nobel Laureate in Economics and adviser to Ronald Reagan – supported legalizing and taxing marijuana. Stephen Easton's classic paper advocating marijuana legalization was published by the Fraser Institute. Why do so many right-leaning economists favour marijuana legalization? Conservative economists typically believe that a person is a best judge of what is in […]
Drugs heal, drugs hurt.
There are those who use drugs, and there are those who could, potentially, benefit from drugs. The two groups do not always coincide:
Who owns her body?
Girl Model tells the story of a Russian child, Nadya, who goes to Japan to break into modeling. She is 13 years old, alone, powerless, penniless – and speaks not a word of English or Japanese. [Spoiler alert]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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