Jul 07 Why Is the iPhone on a Single Network? Robert Frank: Why has Apple restricted its popular iPhone to just a single wireless network in both the United States and the United Kingdom? Apple was shrewd to take this step. When it first hit the market in the… Continue reading
Jul 06 Why Are Christmas Tree Stands Different in NYC? Robert Frank: Economic naturalists often find that many interesting new questions are stimulated by the experience of living in an unfamiliar environment. That’s always been my experience during sabbaticals spent away from Ithaca. One Saturday last December during my… Continue reading
Jul 05 Reader Response: The Uncounted Unemployed Paul Solman: A provocative response, via the PBS Ombudsman, to Thursday’s story about undercounting unemployment. The emailer said it was okay if her name was posted. I assume that means it’s okay to… Continue reading
Jul 03 Why Are Newspapers Sold in Vending Machines That Allow You to Take More Than One? Robert Frank: Here’s another product-design question, this one posed by my former student Brendan Quigley. “Why,” he asked, “are newspapers, but not soft drinks, sold in vending machines that allow customers to take more units than they paid for?”… Continue reading
Jul 02 Why Does Your Refrigerator Have a Light, But Not Your Freezer? Robert Frank: Today’s question was posed by my former student Karim Abdallah. “Why,” he asked, “does a light come on when you open the refrigerator but not when you open the freezer?” The cost-benefit principle offers a promising framework… Continue reading
Jul 01 Why Do Brides Buy Dresses While Grooms Rent Tuxes? Robert Frank: Jennifer Dulski had been married for six months when she enrolled in my introductory economics course in 1997, which may explain the topic she chose for one of her two economic naturalist papers: “Why,” she asked, “do… Continue reading
Jun 30 Why Do Drive-Up ATM Machines Have Braille Dots? Robert Frank: As promised yesterday, today’s economic naturalist question is one of my two all-time favorites from among the many thousands submitted over the years by former students. “Why,” Bill Tjoa wanted to know, “do the keypad… Continue reading
Jun 29 What Do You Make of the Madoff Sentence? By Business Desk Question: What do you make of the Madoff sentence? Paul Solman: I’m tempted to say that, at 150 years, he may have gotten off lightly. In today’s email came the regular newsletter of one of the world’s most provocative and… Continue reading
Jun 29 Guest Host: Robert Frank as the Economic Naturalist Paul Solman: As many NewsHour viewers and Business Desk readers know, Cornell’s Bob Frank is a great favorite of ours. I’ll spare you the usual economiums (encomia?) and links: if you’re intent on “drilling down,” just Google our names… Continue reading
Jun 26 Did U.S. Tax Policy Contribute to the Housing Bubble? Question: How much does (did) federal tax policy contribute to the housing bubble? If it was a contributing factor, how should that policy be reformed? Paul Solman: Not much, I wouldn’t think. Tax deductibility of mortgage interest has been… Continue reading