Relativity - In Pricing

You may have learned this line somewhere along the way in English class.

O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!
Sir Walter Scott

It turns out, it doesn't hold in retail sales.  Shoppers seem to prefer dishonesty in the pricing approach!  They want to get good deals, even when it really is no deal at all.  The linked piece explains this and makes for a good read.

We Forget That Everything Is Relative - Behavioral Scientist via kwout

Sharing The Marbles Revisited

I thought this piece was interesting.  The underlying question is which poor people are deserving of of receiving government subsidies and transfer payments.  Note that at present the unemployment rate is quite low by historical standards, near 4%, but the labor force participation rate is also quite low by historical standards.  Are there people out of the labor market who really should be looking for work?  If so, what is the way to determine who these people are?

A particularly troubling case, not considered in the article, is that of veterans who are now homeless.  When you think through your own views on these matters, you might try to apply those views to the case of homeless veterans and see what you concluded there.

Who’s Able-Bodied Anyway? - The New York Times via kwout

We Called It Strategically Misrepresenting One's Preferences

This piece gives a different meaning to "being a born liar."  I thought the thesis surprising, so possibly interesting for you.  Also note, social science of this sort should be viewed with a skeptical eye - you should not take it as the last word on the matter.  Given that caveat, it is interesting to ponder.  And if you have some experience observing younger children (2 or 3 years of age) you might ask whether this jives with what you have observed.

On a different note, I hope you are relaxing in some reasonably warm climate.  It has been terribly cold in CU for about a week.  I, for one, am ready for some more moderate weather.

Is Your Child Lying to You? That’s Good - The New York Times via kwout

Negative Power Prices in Germany and a Cold Spell in Champaign

Greetings on this holiday weekend:

I thought you might be amused by the thought of negative energy prices.

In our house, and I'm guessing where you are too if you are still in Illinois, it's pretty cold , partly as a way to keep the fuel bill in the manageable range as the weather is, unfortunately, quite cold and partly because temperatures are way below average.  I would love it if energy prices were negative now, so I wouldn't feel so cold in the house.

Power Prices Go Negative in Germany, a Positive for Energy Users - The New York Times via kwout

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday and that it warms up reasonably soon.

Why people don't engage more in experimental consumption.

This piece is interesting - both because it ties into what we were saying in class today - name brands want repeat customers and get them if people don't experiment with the knock-off brands that are really just as good - and because it says something about a certain type of risk aversion.

I will note here that when I was your age (or a year or two older in graduate school) I did experiment eating spicy food.  Then, there was good Thai places in Chicago that were inexpensive, so a grad student could go out and have an interesting meal.  I would never eat that stuff today, my body can no longer handle spicy stuff.  So in that dimension I am much more risk averse than I once was.

In other dimensions, I believe, I still like to experiment.  The quiz of the day that we've been doing the last couple of weeks gives an experimental approach of sorts. I suspect you won't see something like that in your other classes. I wonder if participating in it will encourage you to do a bit more experimental consumption on your own - and not just in the food you consume, but in the activities you undertake.

Quite an interesting piece about gender bias and venture capitalism.

I thought this Op-Ed relevant to the class because one team wrote their paper on venture capitalism.  So while we haven't discussed it in class, it is something students should be aware of.  The author has quite strong credentials to write this piece:

"I have seen it up close in the two worlds I know best: Wall Street, where I was chief executive of Smith Barney and of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, and in Silicon Valley, where I’ve raised money to run my start-up, Ellevest."

What she describes is a kind of market failure based on gender bias.  Hmmm.

The Cost of Devaluing Women - The New York Times via kwout

Nobel Prize in Economics

Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago won the prize.  Let's all be irrational today in celebration.

Nobel in Economics Is Awarded to Richard Thaler - The New York Times via kwout

A Free Online Course On What You Should Have Learned In Econ 101

This might be something you look at over the break or after you graduate.

A New Way to Learn Economics | The New Yorker via kwout

Speaking of Snake Oil Salesman

Equifax is the latest prominent example. I'm not sure the comparison with Enron is apt, as Equifax seems more guilty of negligence than of fraud, but in terms of the scale of the harm done they are similar.

Very Interesting Piece About Kevin Anderson

Kevin Anderson is in the finals of the U.S. Open.  This piece gives some background about his time at Illinois. You wouldn't think of our campus as a hotbed for tennis, but it was and might be again.

Attention Shoppers

This is an interesting piece about the consequences of Amazon buying out Whole Foods.  Alas, all the Whole Foods stores in Illinois are in the Chicago area.  There isn't one in or near Champaign-Urbana.  So I'm not sure whether this will have much consequence on local food shopping.  But it is something to watch for over the next few months.

Amazon Plans to Lower Some Prices at Whole Foods - The New York Times via kwout