Barbara Kahn, Dean of the School of Business Administration at the University of Miami, appeared on Nightly Business Report August 25, 2009 to comment on the new book “Free: The Future of a Radical Price” by Chris Anderson. Kahn rightly points out that even when consumers seem to be getting goods and services for free, […]

The “tragedy of the commons” (Garrett Hardin, 1968) is a concept in economics that describes how a group of self-interested individuals can destroy a shared (and free) resource. Hardin’s classic is example is a group of herders who destroy a pasture as each herder maximizes his/her number of grazing cows to make the most use […]

The NYT describes the growing importance of statisticians to solving more and more of our social and business issues. The article makes clear the rapidly increasing importance of statistics, especially in making sense of the immense amounts of data we can now collect, track, and store: “The new breed of statisticians…use powerful computers and sophisticated […]

On Monday, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported that the state of Georgia is considering scrapping its annual sales tax holiday due to budget issues. One legislator expressed his support for the program by claiming: “‘It’s one of those things that spurs people to spend money that they may not otherwise spend. It goes directly to citizens […]

Disney has increased prices at Walt Disney World despite experiencing a drop in revenues last quarter. In its earnings reported July 30, the company had this to say about operating income: “Lower operating income at the Walt Disney World Resort was primarily due to decreased guest spending and lower corporate alliance income recognition, partially offset […]