Economic Encounters
01/29/14
The Wedding Party Dilemma- To Go or Not to Go?
Seth Allyn
The cost and benefit of human relationships cannot always be measured in dollars and cents.
01/29/14
Lounging in Luxury - Can You Afford It?
David R. Schlesinger
The value of luxury goods can be preserved only if access to them is restricted.
11/30/10
On Your Mark. Get Set. Scrub!
Abigail Ellis
When the majority chooses the “right” choice, it pays off to choose the “left,” especially when it comes to personal hygiene.
11/30/10
Lending an Invisible Hand
Emma Wall
The efforts to polish my resume for selfish reasons ended up helping many worthy causes.
03/26/07
Make Me an Offer
Brian Whaley*
A salesman on commission has an incentive to practice perfect price discrimination.
01/16/06
Happy Hogging!
Price hikes in anticipation of shortages can lead to re-allocation of scarce resources to higher-valued uses.
01/16/06
Efficient but not Fair?
K. K. Fung
Efficiency may conflict with fairness because it is often difficult to re-distribute the gain from greater efficiency.
02/23/04
Excess Demand Blues - Scalpers profit from ticket shortage
Joseph Clara
Excess demand generated by low concert ticket price created profitable opportunity for scalpers.
11/22/03
Who Sets the Curve?
Kyle Carlson
Even though extra study time will improve only one's absolute position but not one's relative position in the grading curve, competitive pressure will ensure that any agreement to not out-study each other will be broken.
05/08/03
Taxing Matters
Richard Lekberg
The over-reliance on sales tax for state revenue in Tennessee has created a budget crisis as its border-town residents increasingly shop in neighboring states with lower sales tax rates.
05/08/03
Race Day Payoff
Jim Kenney
Because of their scarcity value, prizes often induce wasteful resource expenditures among competitors that collectively may exceed the face value of the prizes.
04/03/03
Get in Where You Fit in
Ira Richardson
Quoting room rates according to the guest's elasticity of demand improves the bottom line when there is surplus capacity.
10/26/02
Mickey Mouse Economics
Steven Lindsey
By spreading out large fixed cost over more customers, price discrimination directly increases Disney World's profit.
08/01/02
Grade A Material
Allan Landstreet
In the absence of perfect information, insurers charge premiums according to classes of risks rather than individual risks.
12/21/01
Why Are the Prices Different?
Yapei Alice Tung
Japanese supermarkets charge higher prices for machine-vended items to customers who value their convenience.
12/21/01
The Annoying Neighbor
Jenna Smalley
Tit-for-tat is one way to force producers of negative externalities to internalize them.
10/24/01
To Stand or Not to Stand?
Jeremiah King
Charging a time fee for using restrooms may reduce congestion by discouraging overuse.
04/19/01
DVD or Wait
Candice Lowry
Film companies can increase their revenues by releasing higher-priced DVD's before lower-priced videocassettes.
04/19/01
A Good Fence Makes Good Neighbors
Daniel de Vilchis, M.L.
Fencing makes it easier to enforce property rights.
03/30/01
Discriminating Business Sense
Leif Dyer
Club owner increases revenue by charging customers according to their demand elasticity.