Twinkies, Pizza, Health Care, Hockey, and Black Friday Economics

There has been no more divisive topic in Wisconsin over the last two years than the words "union" and "collective bargaining," which made me hesitant to write this post.  However, over the last few weeks there have been some really interesting economic events in the news surrounding labor issues.  Besides that, we are about to start a unit on monopoly in my principles of microeconomics class and a bargaining unit in my game theory class, so these topics are of particular relevance to my students right now.  Thus, I'm going to attempt to do the impossible: write a fairly balanced, informative post on labor issues that presents some interesting questions for discussion.  You can let me know whether I succeeded.

Data Visualization

As students are churning toward the end of the semester, many are starting to get to the point where they are thinking about how to present the results of projects they've been researching for the last few months.  I thought this would be a good time to highlight another growing trend (and career path) in social science: creative data visualization.

Carbon ranching

Externalities and market failure have been on my mind lately - partly because we just finished that unit in my intro econ class, partly because I'm a public economist and that's a good chunk of what we spend our time thinking about, and partly because I've been reading a lot about California's new greenhouse gas emissions permits which went into place yesterday.

The economics of campaign finance

So you're an applied social science student and are interested in advocating for issues you believe in, but you want a high paying job?  Here's a career path for you:  Political consulting.

One of the stories that comes out towards the end or shortly after every campaign season is always about the amount of spending done leading up to the election.  (See a really good summary graphic from the NY Times here, or a more detailed set of facts from a watchdog group on campaign spending here)

This was the first true post-Citizen's United election season and the result is an estimated $6 Billion spent on elections in the U.S. this year.  Where does that money go? (and how can you pocket a chunk of that sweet, sweet cash for yourself? you might be asking)

Chili Parlors, Community, and Geography

This weekend I made my son Cincinnati Chili for the first time.  If you've never heard of Cincy chili, wikipedia has a pretty good brief summary or if you're up for something a little more complete, here is an ethnographic - type study of chili and it's importance in Cincinnati culture: The Story of Cincinnati Chili.  From the picture above, you can see that he is perhaps a little young still but I wanted to get it into his blood as soon as possible, and it was a pretty big hit.  (FYI: the peas were a concession to healthiness because he's a baby and not a sanctioned ingredient).

Over the course of the meal, my wife and I got to talking about regional foods and their importance to the quality of life in a particular place.  We've lived in a number of places and visited lots of others and one of the things that makes us really enjoy being someplace is a sense of culinary identity.  Wisconsin has beer and cheese and brats among other things (some of you might be surprised to know that cheese curds are completely foreign food in much of the country).  Cincinnati has chili and a few other things like Goetta.   Maryland where my wife is from has blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay.  When we lived in North Carolina, we had Carolina barbeque and also some really great chicken and biscuit places tightly packed around Winston-Salem.  I've spent a lot of time in Chicago and one of my favorite things to get there is an Italian Beef sandwich.  Coastal South Carolina and Georgia have "low-country" cuisine, and don't even get me started on New Orleans and the mouthwatering bounty associated with that region.

The Productivity of the Waterfront and Two Hearted Ales

I'll let the secret out now: I spend my happy hours at the Waterfront Bar and Grill with colleagues in the social science department.  Regularly.  We like the atmosphere and the food.  Sitting outside in the summer is nice, even with the algal bloom off the lake.  And they always have Bell's Two Hearted Ale (a Michigan IPA) on tap.  However, what is most important to us is we talk about work.  And we really love doing so.  We actually get a ton of program planning done and classroom exercises created.  To me, this illustrates the importance of our social relationships to our jobs.