Modeling Charity Through Public Goods Models

In November, Millions of supporters from almost 20 countries participate in Movember, a month-long process of raising money for men’s health issues such as Prostate Cancer, Testicular Cancer, and Mental Health. People like Myself shave off all of their facial hair and then grow a “Mo,” a mustache, for the entire month of November while raising funds for this charity. As Movember is very important to me, I have participated in this month of charitable giving since 2021 and intend to do so for the rest of my life. As an Econ student, charitable giving from NGOs, like Movember, classified Continue reading Modeling Charity Through Public Goods Models

Should we switch to four day work weeks?

Recent news articles have highlighted the change to four day work weeks for some in Iceland. While this is news to the rest of the world, this study has been long-going with trials documented from 2015 to 2019 and most recently, in 2020 until 2022 where 51% of workers in the country were offered and accepted working four days of the week with no loss in pay. Last year it was reported that Iceland had the fastest economic growth out of the European countries and also has one of the lowest unemployment rates. Iceland’s economy expanded by 5% in 2023. Continue reading Should we switch to four day work weeks?

The Life of Dr. Bruce Mann

Dr. Bruce D. Mann, a beloved Economics professor at the University of Puget Sound, passed away on October 1st at the age of 78 from leukemia. This post is my attempt to highlight Dr. Mann’s remarkable life and contributions to his university and county. Bruce graduated from Antioch College with a BA in Economics before spending two years in Iran with the Peace Corps. He then received his PhD in Economics from Indiana University and started his lifelong career teaching at UPS in 1974. I was lucky enough to be in Dr. Mann’s 300-level microeconomics class before his passing, where Continue reading The Life of Dr. Bruce Mann

Less People are Going to Disney’s Theme Parks

One of the biggest supergiants in the entertainment industry, Disney, is struggling with decreased demand for their amusement parks. It’s not only Disney’s amusement parks which are down in ticket sales, across the world people are going to amusement parks less. Disney has the highest amusement park ticket sales around the world, with Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Anaheim leading with around 17 million ticket sales per year. Disney’s amusement parks got a 2% increase in revenue but a 3% decrease in operating profit. This isn’t great for the company as they were planning to spend $60 billion over the next Continue reading Less People are Going to Disney’s Theme Parks

The Work of Claudia Goldin: Gender Pay Gap and The Nobel Prize.

This last weekend, the 2023 Nobel Prize winners for Peace, Literature, Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, and Economics all received prizes commemorating Alfred Nobel’s death on December 10th. While not technically one of the main categories envisioned by the late scientist, the Prize for Economics is a memorial prize paid for not out of Alred’s estate but a Swedish bank. Regardless of the validity of the actual Nobel, the prize has acted as an esteemed Prize in economics, given to the likes of Milton Freidman, his protege Robert Fogel, and now the 77-year-old Harvard economist and historian Claudia Goldin. Goldin is not Continue reading The Work of Claudia Goldin: Gender Pay Gap and The Nobel Prize.

The Fight over Smooth and Chunky Ice Cream

When Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen Dazs were first created, there was an indivisible line drawn between Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s being that Haagen Dazs would only make smooth ice creams and Ben & Jerry’s only chunky. But this only lasted when sales were good. At one point, ice cream sales started to plummet and Haagen Dazs crossed that invisible line into chunky town which caused Ben & Jerry’s to dabble in the smooth ice cream market. This led to more options for consumers and Hagen Dazs even went so far as to reduce their chunky ice cream Continue reading The Fight over Smooth and Chunky Ice Cream

Modeling Religion Through Economics

In most social sciences, religion has been viewed as a fleeting force in everyday life. In the view of Sociology, religion is a tie to a primitive past, and as people become more educated, religion disappears. In Political Science, religion is seen as a deteriorating force as countries develop into more democratic societies with higher levels of self-expression and belief. Yet both of these disciplines contradict increasing data from the developed world. In fact, in the U.S. alone, 43% of Americans identify as religious, and 33% identify as spiritual. According to a Harvard Economic Study, despite Sociology’s view of religion Continue reading Modeling Religion Through Economics