Demand & Supply | BAKE-onomics350

Economies of Scale with Triple Chocolate Cakes

When I decided to get my PhD in economics, my mom wanted to be supportive. In order to do so, she first needed to figure out what...

Quantity Demanded vs. Demand + Choc-Oat-Chip Bars

If you’ve taught economics, you know that two of the most mixed up terms are demand and quantity demanded. The problem is that in...

What's up with (Micro)chips?

This may be a little silly but bear with me… Imagine that you own a bakery, and you specialize in chocolate chip cookies. You make some...

Are Imports Bad? The Case of the Blueberry (+ blueberry muffins)

Imports – goods produced in other countries but sold “here” (in this case that’s the U.S.). They come up in the news a lot – are they...

Driving Demand and Saving Soda

It’s hard for me to go anywhere now without thinking about what I could write a blog post on. Take my trip to Waco a few weeks ago. I...

COVID-19: Lumber, Pools, NYC Suburbs, & Gingerbread Houses: Unexpected Winners during a Pandemic

What did everyone do when the pandemic first hit and people were spending hours and hours at home? At first, the baking started (see...

COVID-19: Maryland Crabs versus Maine Lobsters: Two crustaceans, Two different problems

I read this really interesting article in the NY Times about the Maine lobster industry. The lobster market is struggling due to a...

“Bang for Buck” and Regular vs. Instant Grits

The movie “My Cousin Vinny” has a fan club of lawyers and judges who love to quote the movie and use it as an example of effective...

COVID-19: Foreign Labor & Strawberries

Nothing beats biting into a strawberry and having the juices drip down your chin. But have you ever stopped to think about where these...

COVID-19; Flour, Yeast, and Milk; Elasticity of Supply

It’s April 4th, 2020 and governments across the country and the world are telling their citizens to stay home and not to congregate in...

Red Roses and Chocolate Cookies on Valentine’s Day

One of the first lessons you learn in an economics class is that as the demand for something goes up, so does the price. Now, why is that?...

Supply Curve of Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan)

Back in graduate school, I offered to make cookies for the student events so that they didn’t have to buy the store-bought ones. The...

Complements and Substitutes in Baking

Complements “Milk is on sale, so I bought Oreos!” PJ exclaimed when I came over to babysit his daughter. What?! Well it is simple: milk...

Wedding Cakes and Elasticity

“Say it’s for a wedding and the price doubles.” You’ve probably heard people say that. It refers to many different aspects of the...

Pink Icing and Diminishing Marginal Benefit

I’ve been baking for forever. My sister and I used to make brownies for our swim team coaches in elementary school, and by high school I...