Tuesday's Assorted Links
Free Stuff, Class Participation, Recession Hiring, College Majors, Paid to Move
Hi y'all! Here are a few things I came across over the past week with some cool applications of economic concepts:
Why free stuff makes us behave irrationally [The Hustle]
Should class participation be graded? [Inside Higher Ed]
A lot of businesses are worried about a recession, but they keep hiring more workers [The Wall Street Journal]
The most high-paying college majors are in engineering and economics because those majors offer the best bundle of social & organizational skills that many jobs need [NBER Working Paper]
How much would you need to be paid to move your family? Japan is paying families 1 million yen per child ($7,650) to resettle away from Tokyo [Quartz]
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a new ban on noncompete agreements, which are contracts that prohibit employees from leaving a company and immediately joining a competitor. This ban is intended to protect workers and promote competition in the job market. Get caught up on Monday’s newsletter:
If you’re looking to learn a bit more about how people behave irrationally, I would highly recommend Dan Ariely’s book Predictably Irrational. Ariely tackles the big questions you’ve always wondered about, like why people splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save 25¢ on a can of soup. We think we make smart, rational decisions, but it turns out we’re predictably irrational in a lot of different parts of our lives.