There is all manner of concern about Amazon's relationship with independent booksellers. Basically, Amazon really annoyed them by providing price inducements for people to use Amazon's price check app inside their stores and bypass them for better deals. Of course, this is just strong price competition and could be matched by the stores but a …
Best apps
As it is the holiday season, I thought it might be useful to list my favourite iPhone/iPad apps that for work. Their primary selling point is that fact that they actually get used by me. Due: Due is an iPhone app that solves a particular problem: I need to remember to do something at a certain time …
The Real Welfare Gain from the Holidays
One of the most famous quotations in economics points out how the market system enables each person’s self-interest to benefit others: It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. That’s from The Wealth of Nations. But …
Explaining exponential growth
One of the themes here at Digitopoly is the power of exponential growth. I recently came across a terrific lecture that explains its power. Exponential
Subways Fares, File Sharing, and Larceny
On December 13, the New York Times reported that selling MetroCard swipes isn’t larceny, “and it overturned the 2009 conviction of a New Jersey man who, having served a day in jail for the crime, had fought his case all the way to the State Court of Appeals.” Subway officials had long treated the sale …
Steve Jobs and the Economics of One Entrepreneur
There are no second acts in life, but the American system of entrepreneurship has provided many second chances. That flexibility is, perhaps, one of the greatest strengths of the US system of value creation. For example, a less-flexible system would never have given Apple’s late CEO, Steve Jobs, an opportunity to have much impact later …
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Apple's international pricing
A few years ago I had the idea of using iTunes song prices to form an index to illustrate whether currencies were under- or over-valued. The iTunes index indicated significant over valuation of currencies relative to the US dollar in a way that was not correlated with the Economist's Big Mac index. While this may …
Higher education at lower prices
MIT is expanding and enhancing its offerings of free online courses. Anyone with access to the Internet can take the courses and earn a certificate demonstrating mastery of the subject. Students will have a chance interact with each other electronically and most of the grading will either be done via an app or by students …
Technical change can be awkward
Hat tip: Andrew McAfee
Internet hysteria index
<sarcasm alert> Tired of the self-referential and self-important? Then do not attend a conference on communications policy in Washington D.C. (or watch the latest debate among the Republican candidates for president). What is the next best anecdote to that tone? A bit of humor to punctuate the bubble, of course!<End of alert> Need some humor …
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