A few weeks before my second visit to Paris, I finished reading Nancy MacDonell’s Empresses of Seventh Avenue: World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion. The book is about a moment when Paris’s grip on…
Every time I travel, I follow a familiar ritual. I charge my phone, tablet, and portable battery. Load new books onto my Kindle app. My husband ensures his game console is charged. This pre-flight preparation is our rational response to…
Why do talented musicians struggle to break through while less talented ones with the right family names receive opportunities effortlessly? This is not just unfair. It is inefficient. In labor markets with high information costs, evaluators use proxies to assess…
During my visit to Switzerland earlier this year, I found myself surrounded by exceptional chocolate everywhere I went – from Coop grocery stores to the Lindt factory to premium chocolatiers like Läderach. But the real story isn’t just about quality;…
In my previous exploration of gold jewelry markets, I examined how different cultures solve the fundamental economic challenge of trust and information asymmetry – whether through Florence’s hallmarking traditions, India’s trusted national brands, or America’s standardized quality tiers. But these trust…
Standing in The Gold Corner jewelry store on Piazza di Santa Croce in Florence this past November, examining an 18-karat gold ring, I found myself reflecting on how differently gold jewelry markets operate across the world. As an economist who…
Experiencing first-hand how nostalgia transforms a utilitarian ‘people’s car’ into a premium tourism product in Florence’s competitive market. Last November, while exploring Florence, my husband and I decided to venture beyond the usual tourist trail of museums and churches. We…
The aroma of fresh croissants wafting through a Parisian morning isn’t just about breakfast – it’s about supply chains, labor markets, and agricultural subsidies. The pristine glaciers of Alaska aren’t merely Instagram-worthy vistas – they’re living laboratories of environmental economics…