Econ Basics | BAKE-onomics350

Complements, Substitutes, and Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There is zero pressure to frantically search for presents, and it is an excellent opportunity to...

Matilda Cake Scene: Economics is Everywhere

Matilda by Roald Dahl was my all-time favorite book growing up. I loved listening to teachers read it, learning to read from it, and even...

INA GARTEN was an Econ Major!

“What can you do with an economics major?” I frequently get that question from students who are trying to decide what undergraduate...

Cookie Dough Cheesecake and Asymmetric Information

The Cheesecake Factory is huge. Not only does it have the longest menu in history, its restaurants -- which are often two stories -- are...

The Magic of Chocolate Chips

Have you ever thought about why there are chocolate chips at the grocery store? I mean really stopped to think about it. There you are,...

“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: Crossing State Borders & Homemade Vanilla Extract

One of the first lessons in an economics class is “People respond to incentives.” This concept is quite intuitive. When you were a child...

Thinking on the Margin & Birthday Cake

Marginal thinking is a key concept in economics, but it is often one that is misunderstood. Most of our thinking is in fact on the...

Opportunity Cost, Economic Profit, and Opening a Bakery

Overhead at a table of economists: Susan: “They’re making a profit every month” Mike: “Accounting or Economic profit?” Table: Erupts in...

The Market for Lemon Meringue Pie

George Akerlof won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 for his research on information asymmetries in markets. His seminal paper on the...

Fireworks Cookies and Public Goods

Happy 4th of July! There are all kinds of goods. Things you buy and only you eat. Things you buy and you share. Things you buy and...

Salt and Sunk Costs

“You added a cup of salt instead of a cup of sugar to the batter??” I’ll keep names anonymous, but I still remember hearing a friend tell...

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...