Author Archives: Tesha Shalon

Where are America’s Jobs Going?

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Big companies and corporations are notorious for cutting corners and looking for innovative and creative ways to save money and maximize profits. Today we are seeing these types of job cuts in industries in which the task can be automated to some degree. For example amazon factories already have over 30,000 robots fulfilling orders 24/7. This tradeoff between convenience to a company and employing real humans is one that is widely debated. The banking industry is undergoing its own shift, with 30% of its jobs threatened in the last year. This type of automation differs from what we imagine as Continue reading Where are America’s Jobs Going?→

Economics of Sleep

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  More sleep is usually positively correlated with beneficial variables such as increased cognitive ability, better weight management, and overall wellbeing. But can the amount we sleep explain important health and economic indicators? Lauren Hale, a sleep researcher at Stony Brook University uses sleep as a social justice issue: “Generally, people who have more opportunities, more control over their lives, are also better sleepers. … Is it true that either racial minorities, low-educated, low job-security individuals, people who live in high-risk neighborhoods, who experience fear at night, are these people who clearly have some sort of social disadvantage, are also Continue reading Economics of Sleep→

Why Do the Rich Give Less?

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What motivates people to give their money to charity? As a college student I have heard many of my peers say things like, “well if I had more money I would donate more to charity”, but is that the case for the rest of Americans? When it comes to giving, humans clearly stray away from the rational model. Charitable preferences are never stable, information is very rarely asymmetric, and utility differs depending on how the donation is given and perceived. One of the most surprising facts of charity in America is that the people who can afford to give the Continue reading Why Do the Rich Give Less?→

Free Trade or Protectionism?

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“When goods are not allowed to cross borders, soldiers will.” —Frederic Bastiat It’s safe to say that the majority of economists agree in favor of free trade and against protectionism. Many argue against political candidates that threaten to end trade agreements, and employ tariffs on Mexico and China. But it’s also important to be aware of some of the problems with free trade: The first problem with free trade is that people use GDP as a conventional argument. Or when economic value is taken away, or created without a price tag. Free trade can dissolve industries with hidden values. People Continue reading Free Trade or Protectionism?→

Everything You Need to Know About Bitcoin

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In the past few years you’ve probably heard the term bitcoin tossed around, which is hard to grasp for most who are unfamiliar with non-tangible currency. So here’s the rundown on everything you need to know in order to understand the world of digital currency. Bitcoin is a payment system as well as a digital asset invented by someone who operates under the name “Satoshi Nakamoto”, which was released in 2009. Bitcoin is whats known as a P2P (peer to peer) system which essentially means that you can send bitcoin from your computer, tablet, smart phone or other device, to Continue reading Everything You Need to Know About Bitcoin→

The Robotic Future of the Job Market

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Recently there has been a lot of talk about the ever rapidly growing market for machines that can replicate what used to be a human run job. According to Autodesk CEO Carl Bass, “The factory of the future will have only two employees: a man and a dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to keep the man from touching the equipment.” Economists predict that this type of automation will make the human jobs that we know today obsolete in the near future. Just in the US manufacturing jobs have fallen from 25% Continue reading The Robotic Future of the Job Market→

Thesis Corner | Cydne Pope

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A few weeks ago I talked about the details regarding the costs associated with products marketed to females versus males. This week I interviewed senior Cydne Pope whose thesis ties in very well and dives into the related topic of the social and economic consequences of gendered toys in America. She explores everything from the difference in cognitive ability that these toys promote to the future consequences of toy segregation. TS: What inspired you to choose this topic? CP: When deciding on a thesis topic, I always knew that I wanted to incorporate gender and gender differences into my paper Continue reading Thesis Corner | Cydne Pope→

Introduction to Econ Book Club: The Why Axis

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  Sound Economics has begun its first ever book club where we have chosen to read The Why Axis; Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life, by Uri Gneezy and John A. List, who are two of Forbes magazine’s “worlds most powerful economists”. The aim of their book is to provide the breakthrough ideas to challenge the assumptions of human decision-making. Gneezy added that the book provides “new understanding of the hidden motives that drive people to behave the way they do and of how we can achieve better outcomes for ourselves, our companies, our customers, and society Continue reading Introduction to Econ Book Club: The Why Axis→

Does it Cost More to be Female?

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It’s common knowledge that there is a disparity between men and women’s wages, but is there also a gap between the prices of products that we buy that serve the same purpose? Products marketed to women and girls on average cost 7% more than identical products sold specifically to men. The reason so many companies are able to do this is that neither gender searches outside products marketed to them, rather they make an economical choice between brands within their gender packaging. Most astonishingly a study found that Target sold three wheel scooters, one red for $24.88, and one pink for Continue reading Does it Cost More to be Female?→

Should We Ban Tipping?

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Returning to US after having been abroad for six months required me to retrain my mind in a number of different ways regarding social norms. One of the main things I noticed while traveling was that tips are not a mandatory part of eating out, and were sometimes even seen as rude. They serve more as a signal to the waiter to convey out of the ordinary, outstanding service. This made me think about how in America the price that is advertised to us is often never the price we pay, while in most parts of Europe taxes are incorporated Continue reading Should We Ban Tipping?→