Tag: Opportunity Cost
-
What HBC’s 355-Year Journey Reveals about Opportunity Cost
Recent news about the end of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) emphasizes financial and related numbers: HBC lost about $330 million during the last 12 months; it owes at least $1 billion; 9,300 employees plus contractors will lose their jobs (income, benefits, …); 74 stores and 40 million sq. ft. of retail space will become…
-
Economic Lessons Hidden in Popular Movies
The Oscars® are handed out on March 2, and, in many Canadian provinces, Spring Break for high school students is soon after. So, now is a good time to remember that some movies present important economic ideas entertainingly. Most movies do a bad job of conveying economic ideas precisely.
-
What are the Effects of Tariffs on a Nation’s Wealth?
This old question has been given new life by the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States of America. Using tariffs to “fix” a trade deficit is seductively appealing but, like other zombie ideas, it relies on a misunderstanding. In this case, it ignores two basic principles of economics: opportunity cost and…
-
Achieving your New Year’s Resolutions: The Margins Principle
People state New Year’s Resolutions (“stop drinking”, “stop smoking”, “lose 30 pounds”, …) to make a big improvement in their life. Famously, most fail. This issue is not isolated to decisions made on New Year’s Day or to people trying to make themselves better. There are deeper lessons to be learned: thinking about the margins…
-
Unexpected Economic Insights During Christmas
Christmas is an enjoyable time for many, including many non-Christians living in countries where Christians are a minority. It is a time for presents and food and thinking of others. This post identifies some unexpected ways that the five basic principles of economics appear during this time. Familiar attempts to apply economic ideas to Christmas…
-
“Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward.”
This quote by Oscar Wilde offers a lesson to students who are bored by studying. You can complain that your teacher is world class, at curing insomnia. You can complain that the examples used in class were excellent, 50 years ago. You can complain that doing well on tests is irrelevant, since employers rarely ask…
5 Basic Principles of Economics 