Sound Economics

The other day I called United Airlines to see if I could catch the second leg of my flight home from Scotland, at London Heathrow since I would already be there at the time of my departure. They responded with a, “yes, but this change will be a fee of $800”, to which I declined as it was more than half the ticket price. This got me thinking, why would an airline charge me so much to not board part of my flight, even if I paid for the entire ticket. The answer is hidden city ticketing.   Hidden city Continue reading How Flying Further Can Save You Money→

This week, I have decided to forgo spotlighting an issue or an article on the blog. Instead, I’m going to share one of my all-time favorite sources of economic tidbits: APM Marketplace’s Final Note. This feed is updated approximately every week day. It is a written-out version of Kai Rysdall’s closing segment to their radio show, which is only half a minute or so of air time. Thus, the material is brief… but it still packs a pretty good punch. Here are a few of my favorite more recent tidbits from the Final Note feed: This final note on the way Continue reading APM Marketplace’s Final Note→

ECONorthwest, the largest economics consulting firm headquartered in the Pacific Northwest, is offering a paid internship for current undergraduate or graduate students in Seattle. The intern will work closely with project managers on all aspects of our work, including technical and administrative tasks. Technical analysis will include: research, data collection and analysis, mapping and spatial analysis, and report writing. The deadline for application is November 15th, so go to LoggerJobs (ID #27490) and apply!

In recent news, Tacoma voters just passed city Initiative 1B, which gradually raises the minimum wage for Tacoma from its current $9.47 to $12 over the next three years. They chose this over the options of going straight to $15 this January, and of doing nothing. That makes our first ever podcast outdated already! In our interview with UPS’ Executive Director of Community Engagement and Associate Vice President for Business Services, John Hickey, we asked how the University might react to the two different increases if they were enacted. Give it a listen!

Last week, I began to compare two important programs in the realm of environmental policy: cap-and-trade and carbon tax. I first examined the political viability of both programs and came to the conclusion that although they have received relatively equal magnitude of political praise and scrutiny, the carbon tax is a bit more politically reasonable. A carbon tax has more of a potential to attract people on the right due to the fact that it can come with the condition of revenue neutrality, which takes away people’s natural loss-averse tendencies because another part of the tax system would be adjusted. Continue reading Getting the Price Right: Which is Better? pt. 2→

Ah, modern supermarkets. Where can you find such a vaster array of more brightly colored and oh-so conveniently packaged foodstuffs all jockeying for your attention, screaming “Buy me! Consume me!” With the supermarket as our temple and the singing commercial as our litany, are we likely to fire the world with an irresistible vision of America’s exalted purpose and inspiring way of life? – Adlai Stevenson I always thought of the American supermarket as the domain of pure capitalism. In Economics 170, the supermarket was a commonly used backdrop to theoretical analysis, for example the question “Are chicken and beef perfect Continue reading The Military Pantry Complex→

This week I interviewed Jared Soares, a UPS Alumni who works not too far away at Earth Economics!  When did you graduate from UPS? May 2014. Can you tell me about your work at Earth Economics? (What do you do? How did you end up there? Do you have an idea of where you want to go within/outside of Earth Economics?) I am a research assistant. My primary job is to assist project leads and analysts. This can be anything from compiling data for reports to travelling to events to present information for private and public decision makers. I also Continue reading Interview with Jared Soares from Earth Economics!→

Recently, I have written about the primary techniques to combat the negative externality of pollution: cap-and-trade and carbon taxation. For decades, politicians, economists, and environmentalists alike have debated which method is more effective. Both cap-and-trade and carbon taxes put a price on pollution and, for the most part, have successfully reduced carbon emissions and sparked innovations in sustainable energy use. Of course, because a carbon tax is a price instrument and cap-and-trade is a quantity instrument, as we have seen in my previous posts, the means to the emission reductions are quite different. I will begin my series of comparisons with Continue reading Getting the Price Right: Which is Better? pt. 1→

On Tuesday, Tacoma voters will have their voices heard on two potential minimum wage increases. We’ve heard from bloggers on this issue before, and here’s a piece from Ashley Gross at KPLU this morning with interviews from local residents (and an economist!) on both sides of the issue.   [Edit: Although there doesn’t seem to be a “Play” button in the bar above, just click on the far left side of the bar to play the audio clip. The clip is 5:34 long.]