The Gig Economy and the Disintegration of the Traditional Labor Contract In recent years, many workers have flocked to the "gig economy" where they can sign up on smartphone apps to complete individual jobs for cash payments. It's flexible and convenient, but is it good for the labor market?
Why Data Is the New Oil: Market Power in the Age of Information Capitalism With AI and massive data sets of our Internet usage history, some fear that companies will be able to engage in price discrimination and personalized pricing, charging each of us the highest price we are willing to pay.
From Freemium to Premium: The Economics of Free Products Many people use "freemium" services or products, and are asked daily to upgrade to full access to all features as part of the firm's paid tier. Why is it worth it for firms to offer free packages or demo versions?
Buy Now, Pay Later and the New Consumer Debt Cycle Over the past few years, consumers have flocked to Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, many offered with zero interest. This option leads to more purchases overall, but does come with some risk of overspending.
Surge Pricing and the Ethics of Real-Time Markets Many firms today can use electronic sales over websites and apps to engage in surge pricing, or the rapid increase in price to accompany temporary increases in demand. Is this practice ethical?
The Creator Economy: Why Attention Is the New Currency Millions of young people want to become paid content creators through social media apps. Are we about to see labor market disruptions from Gen Zers dropping out of traditional jobs to become influencers?
How Vertical Integration Is Reshaping Consumer Markets Many large companies pursue vertical integration, or acquiring other firms that are necessary in the process of getting a good to customers. These acquisitions, though expensive initially, can reduce cost and boost quality.
Platform Economics and the Power of Scale: Why Big Tech Keeps Getting Bigger Everyone wants a convenient platform that allows them to access lots of options, which is why Big Tech firms like Amazon and Facebook are dominant digital markets of new and used goods, respectively.
Network Effects and the Rise of Big Tech: Analyzing Market Dominance in the Digital Economy Why have a handful of websites come to dominate the Internet? Network effects explain how demand for a good or service increases as more people use it; users benefit from accessing more fellow users.
Price Discrimination in the Digital Age: How Companies Maximize Profits Through Personalized Pricing Artificial intelligence (AI) software could be used to change prices charged to individual online shoppers based on their income, wealth, and consumption habits, raising ethical implications.
Why Airline Ticket Prices Fluctuate: Understanding Dynamic Pricing Strategies Airlines engage heavily in dynamic pricing, where the price is adjusted based on timing of purchase and other factors, ranging from peak travel times to last-minute attempts to fill empty seats. Add tiered memberships and baggage fees, and prices can vary considerably.
The Economics of Remote Work: How Labor Markets Are Adjusting to the Post-Pandemic World Since the start of the Covid pandemic, a significant portion of white collar workers in the West have been working remotely. As companies and governments want workers to return to the office, a labor force debate has erupted over remote work.
Cryptocurrencies and Inflation Hedging: Can Bitcoin Really Replace Gold? Historically, investors bought gold as a hedge investment against inflation, with gold's value typically rising during periods of instability. Today, Bitcoin is seen as a similar hedge investment. Will it eventually replace gold as a hedge?
Behavioral Economics and the Gamification of Finance: How Apps Like Robinhood Influence Trading Behavior Today, anyone can download a free app and invest in stocks, cryptocurrency, and bonds by linking it to their bank account. What are the ramifications of these apps using gamification features to entice users to log on frequently?
Business economics The Economics of Subscription Models: Why Businesses Prefer Recurring Revenue Over One-Time Sales In the 1990s and early 2000s, consumers had to buy software and entertainment in individual units. Today, most of it is sold through a subscription model that includes access to new content and automatic updates. Why do businesses prefer this model?
Price Discrimination in the Airline Industry: How Airlines Maximize Revenue Through Dynamic Pricing Airlines engage in dynamic pricing by charging consumers higher prices when they buy tickets closer to the departure time. Artificial intelligence (AI) allows firms to more effectively engage in price discrimination to perfect dynamic pricing and maximize profits.
The Paradox of Automation: How Labor-Saving Technology Can Create More Jobs Almost a century ago, a famous economist predicted that technological innovations would drastically reduce our labor. Today, however, we seem just as busy as ever. Various factors explain why labor-saving tech did not reduce our laboring!
The Minimum Wage Debate: Do Higher Wages Boost Productivity or Destroy Jobs? Minimum wage laws became popular during the Great Depression as a way to protect workers from exploitation. Today, there are many arguments both for and against keeping these laws.
Inflation and Shrinkflation: How Firms Use Hidden Price Adjustments to Navigate Economic Turbulence To maintain customer loyalty and revenue, many firms are keeping their prices the same during periods of inflation. But they aren't voluntarily reducing their profits - they are reducing product size or quality to engage in "shrinkflation."
Supply Chain Resilience and Comparative Advantage: Rethinking Global Trade After COVID-19 Since the Covid pandemic, many Western companies are looking to protect their supply chains from shutdowns and epidemics. Is it worth the higher per-unit cost to buy resources from more developed countries?
Externalities in Urban Planning: A Case Study on Congestion Pricing in New York City New York City plans to implement congestion pricing to reduce high traffic congestion. Historically, this policy has been more successful and less restrictive than other congestion-fighting options.
Diminishing Marginal Returns in Agricultural Technology: A Case Study of India’s Green Revolution In the 1960s, India and other developing countries underwent a Green Revolution thanks to new innovations in chemical science and agricultural research. But crop yields cannot continue to grow forever!
Public Goods and Urban Green Spaces: Economic Implications of Parks in Developing Cities While some may see city parks and urban green spaces as unneeded government spending, these spaces provide important economic benefits.
Elasticity of Demand and the Global Energy Transition: A Case Study on Fossil Fuels vs. Renewables Demand for fossil fuel remains relatively inelastic due to public perception of it being more reliable than renewable energy sources. This might change over time, however, with successful marketing of renewable energy as similarly reliable.
Comparative Advantage in the Modern Era: The Impact of Free Trade on Developing Economies Free trade is widely considered to benefit all consumers, but effects on producers and workers is more complicated. In developing countries, free trade raises debates about the ethics of low wages and environmental degradation.
