Tuesday's Assorted Links
Cost of living, social media bans, computer science majors, health insurance, and lettuce demand
Hi y’all! Here are five stories from this week that contained some neat applications of economic principles or are related to teaching:
The Miami metropolitan area has finally become pricier to live in than greater New York [Bloomberg]
France becomes the first country in the European Union to adopt a social media ban for users under 15 [AP News]
Computer science enrollment fell for the first time in roughly two decades due to the rise of AI [Business Insider]
Nearly a quarter of US workers say they’re staying in unwanted jobs so they can keep their health insurance [NPR]
A new poll has found that 4 in 10 Americans are buying or eating less produce because of the parasitic outbreak linked to iceberg lettuce in nine states. [CBS News]
It takes three separate government licenses just to legally cut hair in New York City. Mayor Mamdani wants to fix that. This week’s piece uses the “anti-fade” barbershop maze to dig into the real economics of occupational licensing: when it protects consumers, when it just protects incumbents, and why bad rules can survive for decades even when everyone agrees they’re bad.
The Anti-Fade Problem
Somewhere in New York City, a young barber is looking to open their own shop. They’ve been cutting hair for years for family and friends, slowly building their client list one fade at a time. They’re ready to be their own boss.
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The employer-provided health insurance model works so well, we should start having employer-provided auto and home insurance, travel insurance, and concert ticket insurance.