Category Frances Woolley
Could you pass Eco 100?
My best friend's son is taking Eco 100. While studying for his midterm exam, he encountered this question: True or false: There is no difference between these two equilibrium equations in Eco 100 consumer theory as one equation can be transformed mathematically into the other (a) MUx/MUy=Px/Py (b) MUx/Px=MUy/Py. What do you think? Is this […]
Seaways and Separatism
Like every Canadian my age, I was taught about the St Lawrence Seaway in school. But I never fully understood why it was built or how it worked. So, while in Montréal this past weekend, I decided to cycle the length of the Lachine Canal, and around to the Lachine Rapids (pictured on the right), to […]
Crank it up to 11 for Nigel Tufnel
Nigel Tufnel, lead guitarist of Spinal Tap, gave an unforgettable illustration of the difference between ordinal and cardinal numbers. A three minute clip with lead-in is here, a one minute clip with just the highlights is here. And if you just want to savour the words…
How to present a paper, revisited
Nick Rowe once wrote down some simple advice about how to present an academic paper: Presenters should concentrate on giving us the big picture: the motivation, key assumptions, the main results, and the intuition behind those results. Don’t try and grind through countless equations in excruciating detail; you won’t have time, and nobody cares (if […]
Should spelling and grammar count?
I'm spending my weekend marking exams and papers. As always, I have to decide, "Should I take off marks for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors?" Grades are a measure of a student's abilities, skills, and knowledge. They are used by admission committees in deciding a student's potential for graduate work (a master's degree, or law […]
Reality TV as union busting?
TV writers and actors get paid decent money, because they're unionized. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists's contract specifies fees for every type of TV appearance. Reality TV stars are not "television and radio artists" and do not need to be paid union rates. Reality television shows can feature non-union performers without violating AFTRA agreements. This […]
The Agenda on the Limits to Economics
Last Friday, TVO's show "The Agenda" broadcast an hour-long discussion on the limits of economics, sparked by Dan Ciuriak and John Curtis's working paper "What if everything we know about economic policy is wrong?" The discussion featured University of Western Ontario economist David Laidler, Barnard College's Perry Mehrling, Thorsten Koeppl, a professor of economics at Queen's University, […]
Whatever happened to black cat toffee?
Back in the day, name brand chocolate – Coffee Crisp, Mars bars – made up a small percentage of the average trick-or-treat haul. I remember getting candy apples, rockets, tootsie pops, suckers, caramels, "boiled sweets" (hard sugar candy), raisins and the dread black cat toffee. Nothing – in terms of quality or in terms of […]
Attack of the health care zombies
In his inaugural Economy Lab post, Chris Auld does a superb job of demolishing the idea that a healthy lifestyle substantially decreases demand on the health care system. He calls it the "zombie argument" because: it has been repeatedly shot, stabbed, and poked at with sharp sticks, but it won't just die. People still believe that […]
The unwanted gift
Before markets existed, people used gifts to save and invest, to exchange goods and services, and to pool risk. Lark Rise to Candleford, Flora Thompson's portrait of 19th century British village life, describes a gift exchange – and its underlying logic – in detail. Each year every family in the village bought and raised a […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
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