Category Frances Woolley
Why are groceries more expensive in the bulk food section?
Many grocery stores have a bulk food section, where shoppers scoop flour or nuts or spices from big bins into little plastic bags, and then take them up to the cash, where each individual purchase is weighed and priced. There are no brand names. There is no fancy packaging. Shoppers do all the work of […]
Could you pass O-level economics in Pakistan?
The question: What causes unemployment? The answer: Over the fold, taken from a textbook currently used for O-level (roughly grade 11) social studies in Pakistan.
Rethinking the traditional academic office
During my time as a professor, I've had a series of offices with a series of big, solid, 1970s oak desks. I have never worked at these desks. They're useless for computing, as they're the wrong height. They're useless for explaining things to students, because they aren't designed for two or more people to sit side-by-side. All […]
Time use: what’s the Big Question?
Whole academic publishing industries have been built around Big Questions. There's the Big Trust Question: “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you need to be very careful in dealing with people?” There's the Big Satisfaction Question: "All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole […]
That height study: bad science, bad reporting, both – or neither?
It's been reported on NPR: Americans are shrinking, while Chinese and Koreans sprout up. In the New York Times: Adults have become shorter in many countries. In the Guardian: Women and men have grown taller over last century. On Global News: Canadians don't stack up in height quite like they used to. In the Daily Telegraph: British overtake Americans after growing […]
Scarce versus Abundant TP Equilibria
Canada is in an abundant TP equilibrium. Washrooms in restaurants, shopping malls, museums, universities, and other public places are, generally speaking, well stocked with toilet paper (TP). Inner Mongolia is in a scarce TP equilibrium. With the exception of elite venues such as four star hotels and airports, toilet paper is absent from public places. […]
Can sex triumph over patriarchy?
The way women and men spend their time has changed profoundly over the past century. Women in the developed and, to some extent, the developing world are spending much less time in unpaid household work, especially in tasks like cooking, cleaning, and laundry, and much more time in paid work. Men are doing a little bit less […]
What’s wrong with Airbnb?
Airbnb undermines the distinction between short-term, "hotel", accommodation and and long-term, "apartment" accommodation. Some people seem to figure this is a bad thing. New York State legislators, for example, have passed legislation imposing heavy fines on anyone listing their entire apartment on Airbnb or a similar service. But what – if anything – is wrong with what Airbnb […]
Canada Pension Plan Memo
To: Generation X, Generation Y and Millennials From: The Baby Boomers Re: Pension Savings Date: June 21, 2016 It has come to our attention that you are not saving sufficiently for your retirement. This does not surprise us. We haven't saved sufficiently for our retirement either. Some of us have made enough money in the housing market […]
The challenge: Find an example where ethnicity or culture matters in regulatory policy
Today I was asked by a government policy analyst: "I'm trying to think of an example of a situation when ethnicity or culture matters in regulatory policy. Can you help me out?" Here's my best attempt. I challenge others to try to come up with a better example. The regulation: In Canada, Vitamin D must […]
Worthwhile Canadian Initiative 
Recent Comments