Economics

A Disgusting Display of Bureaucratic Force from the Chicago Department of Public Health

5 Comments / Chicago, Economics, Food and wine, Liberty, Politics / By

Lynne Kiesling This is so vile, so disgusting that I am literally nauseated at my desk as I write. One of the ways that independent chefs, caterers and confectioners economize on their substantial fixed costs is by sharing kitchens. In Chicago, the business license treatment of such kitchens from the Chicago Department of Public Health …

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Matt Welch on Monopoly: Joseph Schumpeter, Call Your Office!

2 Comments / Economics / By

Lynne Kiesling Matt Welch channels his inner Joseph Schumpeter (and his inner Lynne, while we’re at it …) in his post this morning about the evanescence of monopoly. The grit in Matt’s oyster is yesterday’s NYT oped from former Microsoft vice president Dick Brass bemoaning Microsoft’s lack of an innovation-facilitating corporate culture. As someone who …

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A Little Innovation with Great Effect: the New Heinz Ketchup Packet!

9 Comments / Economics, Food and wine / By

Lynne Kiesling Here’s an example of how a small innovation can have a substantial beneficial impact: Heinz redesigns its ketchup packets to hold three times as much ketchup, and to be squeezed or dipped. No more ketchup splurts on clothes, no more having to get three packets to get as much as you’d like, no …

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Jaguar Proposes a Luxury Turbine Hybrid Vehicle

3 Comments / Economics, How cool is this?, Technology / By

Lynne Kiesling Yes, you saw that correctly, a turbine. According to Wired: Jaguar Land Rover is working on the car with British gas turbine manufacturer Bladon Jets and electric motor manufacturer SR Drives. The Technology Strategy Board, which funds business development in the U.K., is underwriting the first serious attempt at a turbine car since …

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The Amazon-macmillan Ebook Kerfuffle: an Ode to Price Discrimination

6 Comments / Books, Economics / By

Lynne Kiesling [I love the word kerfuffle] Price discrimination is the basic economics question in the current iPad-induced Amazon-Macmillan kerfuffle, even more basic than the DRM/property rights issues and the antitrust/resale price maintenance issues I discussed in my last post on the matter. Lots of people have weighed in on the subject in the past …

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Publishers and Ebooks: Innovation, Drm, and Resale Price Maintenance

5 Comments / Economics / By

Lynne Kiesling I hope all of you economists out there are following the current brouhaha between Amazon and the publisher Macmillan, because the number of fascinating economics issues is stunning. In brief, Macmillan is one of the publishers working with Apple on the iPad and Apple’s ebook store. At the same time (I remain agnostic …

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