Sound Economics

Uber might be convenient, and it’s growth is promising – but it’s been hailed as a bad sign for taxi cabs, especially the massive taxi market in NYC. I used Uber in Boston on the regular, and there’s both a strong taxi cab and Uber presence there – but it doesn’t come close to NYC in regards to reliance on taxi cabs. There’s been tensions and debates this past year regarding Uber and taxis in the Big Apple this year, as they share the same (very small and highly profitable) space. About a year ago, taxi medallions (which allow taxi drivers or companies Continue reading Uber vs. taxis in New York City→

[This post follows up on Part Two from last week and Part One from the week before]. Over the last two weeks, I have been posting about the question: why have the parties negotiating over the future of Greece allowed a seemingly needless series of near catastrophes (followed by last-minute resolutions) to occur? Last week, I took a behavioral approach and considered procrastination as a potential contribution to the phenomenon. This week, we’ll consider a game theory point of view. The BBC featured an interesting (and brief!) article earlier this year describing the Greek situation from a game theory perspective. Continue reading Groundhog Day in Greece (Part 3)→

This week I interviewed Tom Merritt, a 2014 UPS economics graduate. I asked him a few questions about his experiences with economics, UPS and graduate school. When did you graduate from UPS and where did you go for grad school? I graduated from UPS in 2014 and then went straight into the Economics MA program at Cal State-East Bay. Can you tell me a little bit about the PhD application process? Are you looking to stay at the same university or are you looking at others (if that’s how it works)? Do you have a focus in mind? I’m looking at Continue reading Interview with Thomas Merritt – UPS Alum and PhD Candidate!→

Last week, I talked about carbon taxes, which is one of the primary methods that governments can monetarily encompass the negative environmental externalities that come from irresponsible production. Now, I will discuss the cap and trade system, also known as emissions trading. The cap and trade system is very interesting in the sense that it literally creates a market for carbon. The government sets an overall cap on emissions and creates limited authorizations to emit, up to the level of the cap. Sources that emit pollution, such as factories, can buy or sell the authorizations or save them to use in Continue reading Getting the Price Right: Cap and Trade→

[This post is follows up on Part One from last week]. Last week I brought up the question: why have the parties negotiating the future of Greece allowed a seemingly needless series of near catastrophes (followed by last-minute resolutions) to occur? One answer might be the reason why you (probably) write your essays the night before they’re due. Collin’s great article from last year delves into an economics-flavored analysis of procrastination. If you don’t have time to give it a read–which you should definitely do–the gist is this: “…given the choice between having a good thing ($100) now or later, we tend Continue reading Groundhog Day in Greece (Part Two)→

Last week, I introduced the issue of negative externalities and how the amount that consumers pay for energy fail to reflect the environmental and social costs that come with its extraction and production. Recall that the supply curve typically shown in introductory economics classes only projects the Marginal Private Cost (MPC) of the firm, but there also exists a curve called the Marginal Social Cost (MSC), which gives a graphical representation of the external costs that come with the creation of a good. The gap between the MPC and the MSC must be closed for the sake of sustaining not only the Continue reading Getting the Price Right: Carbon Tax→