When economists talk about supply and demand, they usually discuss prices of “related goods” as one of the determinants of demand for an item. (see here for a video.) Related goods can be either substitutes- things that are consumed instead of one another- or complements- things that are consumed together. In other [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Buyer Beware'
Dilbert Exposes The Logic Of Complements And Loss Leaders…
July 21st, 2010 · 7 Comments
Buyer Beware · Econ 101
Tags: Buyer Beware · Econ 101
Follow Up: (Rush And) I Told You Not To Mess With Taxes…
July 14th, 2010 · 12 Comments
Buyer Beware · Follow Ups · Fun With Math · Policy
I wrote last year about how my BFF Rush Limbaugh doesn’t like taxes:
Personal income taxes for the uhh…upper middle class and the rich are about to skyrocket 31 percent for all New Yorkers making more than $500,000 a year. So I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do, I’m gonna look for an alternative studio somewhere [...]
Tags: Buyer Beware · Follow Ups · Fun With Math · Policy
Reader Question: So What’s Up With This Strasburg Kid?
June 8th, 2010 · 11 Comments
Behavioral Econ · Buyer Beware · Reader Questions · Sports
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the exact wording of the question, but it’s what everyone seems to be asking nowadays…reader Seth writes:
I had a topic for you to address that I thought might be good for someone with a behavioral econ background. Tonight is Stephen Strasburg’s MLB debut (#1 uber prospect) for the Nationals. The [...]
Tags: Behavioral Econ · Buyer Beware · Reader Questions · Sports
Follow Up: New And Creative Pricing Strategies From Those Wacky Airlines…
May 24th, 2010 · 17 Comments
Buyer Beware · Econ 101 · Follow Ups · Markets
I wrote last week about the wonderful world of airline baggage fees. I even put a version of it up on the Huffington Post. Little did I know that I was going to get new information on how airlines like to make their pricing confusing.
Apparently in addition to adding in separate fees for [...]
Tags: Buyer Beware · Econ 101 · Follow Ups · Markets
Reader Question: So Should I Just FedEx My Luggage Now?
May 19th, 2010 · 8 Comments
Behavioral Econ · Buyer Beware · Decision Making · Policy · Reader Questions
I’ve gotten a few requests for comment on the whole “airlines now charging customers to breathe on their airplanes” issue, so I will give a bit of an economist’s take on the matter here.
First, a recap for those of you who, unlike me, haven’t been watching the airline industry with baited breath to see what [...]
Tags: Behavioral Econ · Buyer Beware · Decision Making · Policy · Reader Questions