Ethics in Environmental Economics: Coase Theorem

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Environmental economics objectively looks at natural resources and environmental issues from a market perspective. In the traditional model, supply (private marginal costs) is equal to demand (social marginal benefits) that create a socially optimal equilibrium. When private marginal costs differ from social marginal benefits, an externality is produced. Transitioning from what an externality looks like graphically, “An externality exists when a person makes a choice that affects other people in a way that is not accounted for in the market price.” [1] These choices are generally based off production and consumption needs by an individual or firm and can be Continue reading Ethics in Environmental Economics: Coase Theorem→

How Digital Ad Bots Bid for Your Attention

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Have you ever wondered how the ads you see online are selected? When you’re shopping online or watching a video on YouTube, odds are you aren’t seeing a random advertisement, but an advertisement that has been specifically chosen for you through an auction process that happened in the fraction of a second it took the webpage to load. Many companies, including Instagram, YouTube, Google, and Facebook don’t just serve up ads that might be relevant to your interests, they hold an auction for your attention. Behind the scenes, the type and quality of the ad, your personal browsing history, and Continue reading How Digital Ad Bots Bid for Your Attention→

Skewed Perception: American Attitude Toward Taxes

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The word “taxes” can stir up many emotions for Americans. The general attitude of citizens toward taxes can be ambiguous and unclear. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a television series on FXX, captures this picture in one of their recent episodes. Two of the main characters become troubled after finding out the local mental institution has released its patients because of statewide cutbacks. One of the characters suggests that they must pay more in taxes to keep these hospitals open. The other character becomes angry and says, “How much do these vultures need? I already pay a ton in taxes… Continue reading Skewed Perception: American Attitude Toward Taxes→

Trends of Hours Worked and Employment of G7

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This week, I wanted to examine data to see if there was a trend with average hours worked and employment, as well as unemployment. We would expect that as employment increases, so would hours worked. I took data from the OECD from the G7 members, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US. seven of the major advanced economies in the world, Here are the results. So far, France follows the trend we would expect; employment and hours worked are mostly parallel. Canada also mostly follows this, but we can see a slight trend where employment has been Continue reading Trends of Hours Worked and Employment of G7→

NAFTA and Corn

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Corn is a pretty solid source of food. You can make cornbread. You can have corn on the cob and you can have corn off the cob. You can eat popcorn or you can have the variety of foods that have high fructose corn syrup. I promise this post will not all be about the ways you can prepare and eat corn, but it’s necessary to demonstrate how important of a food source it is (did I not mention that this is a food blog now?). Here’s another combination: NAFTA and corn! The United States produces a whole bunch of Continue reading NAFTA and Corn→

Rethinking The Role of Firefighters

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It’s a common cliche that firefighters are the friendly community members that help get your cat down from a tall tree. Recently, people have began to take advantage of this reputation. The role of firefighters has become more customer-oriented as they find themselves responding to more medical emergencies than they do actual fires. Nowadays, buildings are constructed better with sturdy materials and special consideration to electrical wiring and other hazards. Fires just don’t happen as much as they used to. According to the National Fire Protection Association, firefighters are getting called out on about 40% less fires than they did Continue reading Rethinking The Role of Firefighters→

Hops and Craft Beer: Are We in a Bubble?

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Depending on your beer knowledge, you may be wondering, what are hops? Hops are one of the three main ingredients for beer, along with barley and water. In the United States, they are primarily grown in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. My family actually grows hops, among other things, and I decided to write this post after my mom mentioned an article she read. (Thanks Mom) The article covered some troubling trends in the hops market, most likely stemming from a boom in craft breweries over the last 5 years. In fact, we have seen about a 116% increase in the total Continue reading Hops and Craft Beer: Are We in a Bubble?→

Mafias Cause Negative Externalities

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Most of the worlds environmental damages have come from mineral mines. Over time large markets and industries have been centered around feeding consumer’s obsessions with these shiny and sparkly minerals like diamonds and gold. With a high intrinsic and monetary value those industries for years thrive, but of quartz (pun intended) those industries have become rare due to over extraction. But whoever would have thought that the sand mining industry would someday boom! Currently India’s sand mafia accumulates around $2.3b a year in the illicit market for sand. It’s estimated that 50,000 lorryloads of sand is being mined per day and Continue reading Mafias Cause Negative Externalities→

Trump May Struggle to Deliver on Economic Campaign Promises

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President Trump’s lack of interest in the opinions of professional economists is causing concern. According to a February report by the Huffington Post, President Trump was concerned about the value of the dollar. Unsure of whether a strong dollar or a weak dollar is good for the US economy, he made a 3 AM call to (now) former national security advisor Michael Flynn, to ask what is essentially a question about macroeconomics. According to the report, Flynn admitted to not knowing, and advised the President to consult an economist instead. This piece of information was picked up by the New Continue reading Trump May Struggle to Deliver on Economic Campaign Promises→

Blumhouse: Minimizing Costs in the Film Industry

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The thriller-horror film, “Get Out” was released in theaters on February 24th and has made more than $150 million gross domestic, according to Box Office Mojo. The movie has received a positive response from movie critics with an 8.2/10 on IMDb and 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. But the real magic behind this film is the low budget at only $4.5 million. NPR’s Planet Money recently dove into the “science” behind producing this film and others created by the production company Blumhouse. Jason Blum is the founder this low-budget film production company. He created this company with the idea that he Continue reading Blumhouse: Minimizing Costs in the Film Industry→