A Few of My Favorite Things This Year
What I wrote, what I read, and what I learned along the way
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It’s the last Monday of the year, and I want to spend it reflecting on the past twelve months with you by sharing a few of my favorite things, including some of my favorite posts and a handful of favorite books I read this year.
Monday Morning Economist exists because you open these emails each week. You read, reply, share posts with friends, use examples in class, or forward something to a friend because you thought they’d like it. That engagement is easy to take for granted, but I don’t. I’m genuinely grateful.
Economics can sometimes feel intimidating or disconnected from daily life, but my goal has always been to make it feel a little more human and occasionally a little more fun. Thank you for trusting me with a few minutes of your Monday mornings.
A Few Highlights from the Year
This year was a big one for Monday Morning Economist. Here are a few moments worth celebrating:
We added more than 3,500 subscribers over the past 12 months, thanks largely to your shares and referrals. Our readers now come from all 50 U.S. states and 127 different countries!
I collaborated with five different authors this year. Some of them have formal economics training (like NoahTrudeau and Eric Dunaway), and others whose work I admire in very different spaces, including sandwich history (Barry W. Enderwick), open-source intelligence (josemonkey), and finance education (Hanna Horvath).
I gave 20+ regional and national interviews related to topics that came from this newsletter, including conversations about egg and chicken prices, cardboard boxes, and the cost of Thanksgiving dinner.
And, my favorite highlight by far: your replies. The emails, DMs, classroom stories, and “I used this with my students” notes never get old.
The Posts That Sparked the Most Conversation
If you’re newer here, or just want to revisit some favorites, these were some of the most read, shared, or talked-about posts from the year. Each one captures a different side of what this newsletter tries to do.
The Case of the Cheaper Dinner That Costs More
A cheaper Thanksgiving bundle sounded great, until people realized Walmart had swapped out products and shrunk the basket.What Cardboard Can Tell Us About the State of the Economy
Consumers are anxious about the economy, but is that anxiety showing up in something as mundane as cardboard box orders?
Why Are Eggs So Expensive While Chicken Prices Stay Flat?
When bird flu sent egg prices soaring but left chicken meat prices relatively unchanged, the explanation came down to basic economic forces.
Why Aren’t Cars as Colorful as They Used to Be?
The sea of white, black, and gray cars in today’s parking lots isn’t an accident, but economics helps explain why.
One Small Ask (That Means a Lot)
If you’ve enjoyed reading this year, I’d love it if you shared this post with one person, like a friend, colleague, student, or family member. Most people find this newsletter because someone they trust forwarded a post and said, “I think you’d like this.”
The Best Things I Read This Year
I didn’t read nearly as much as I hoped to this year, but I still managed to finish 25 books this year. These were a few of my favorite nonfiction reads from the past year, in no particular order:
After being laid off in March 2020 and needing health insurance fast, Grant became a rural letter carrier in Appalachia. I’ve always had a soft spot for the USPS, and the fact that this story is rooted in Blacksburg made it especially enjoyable.
Coming Up Short by Robert Reich
A look at the culture, politics, and economic choices that have landed us where we are today. I’ve long admired Reich’s work, and this helped me better understand his viewpoints.
Who Is Government? by Michael Lewis
A behind-the-scenes look at the largely unrecognized people doing work that can be deeply consequential for everyone. It reminded me a lot of The Fifth Risk, which I also loved.
Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
One woman’s career inside one of the most influential companies on the planet. I read this right after The Anxious Generation and couldn’t help but wonder what life might look like without Facebook.
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
A deep dive into the rise of teen mental illness and the role social media may play. It gave me a lot of insight into what many of my students are navigating when it comes to technology and peer pressure.
Looking Ahead
I tried a lot of new things this year, and I’m really proud of how they turned out. I have a few ideas that have been sitting in my notes app for a while, and I’m determined to finally get those out to you. I’ll figure it all out in due time. For now, I’m just grateful.
As always, I’m interested in hearing directly from you about what you’d like to see more (or less) of going forward. If you have ideas for future topics or just want to say hello, please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
Great year! Congrats on a successful run and consistent high-quality content. Thanks for helping us learn more this year.
Haidt really has an axe to grind about social media. From looking into the actual research it didn’t support his views nearly as much as he implies.
I still don’t think we should be using social media so much (though doesn’t that include substack? 🤔), I just don’t see it as the biggest problem to focus on. I think banning phones in school would already get most of the benefit (even there the evidence is mixed, but it seems at worst a “harmless” intervention).