All posts tagged: Economics

Taylor Swift is on the wrong side of history

November 13, 2014
by wesley
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Books & Entertainment / Economics / Society & Culture

The digital age has caused a lot of upset in the music business. In 2001, major record labels won a lawsuit agains Napster, arguing rightly that the music file-sharing service had infringed on the rights of artists by allowing fans to download music for free without license. It was an awkward moment, as all sorts of tactics were experimented with to stop fans from copying music. Enter: Apple’s iTunes store and iPod. The Apple solution provided a system that could adapt to […]

Trade and Cheez-Its: How to Teach Economics to Your Toddler

August 1, 2013
by wesley
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Economics / Syndicated Posts

Economics can be a dry subject. Finding a way to illustrate its principles in a way that is informative and fun is like figuring out a difficult magic trick: Once we figure out the trick, we want to show everyone. Last week, as I prepared to teach a class of high-schoolers a few foundational concepts in American political thought and economics, I came up with an exercise so easy you can teach it to a […]

Is Price Gouging Immoral? Should It Be Illegal?

April 30, 2012
by wesley
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Uncategorized Ramblings

http://youtu.be/h9QEkw6_O6w <p>Is Price Gouging Immoral? Should It Be Illegal? April 30th, 2012 § Leave a Comment http://youtu.be/h9QEkw6_O6w The folks at LearnLiberty.org are creating some excellent and rather entertaining videos on liberty and free markets. This short video shows how price gauging during an emergency—an act commonly viewed as inspired from the devil himself—is merely a function of the market finding a way to deliver goods to the people who need them most. I heard a great EconTalk podcast a while back with Russ Roberts and Mike Munger on this very topic. Paradoxes like these are one reason I enjoy economics. The bigger reason is learning how to actually help people in need instead of making situations worse.</p>