Tuesday's Assorted Links
Trevi Fountain, car insurance, dog shows, Valentine's Day spending, and kindergarten skills
Hi y’all! Here are five stories from this week that contained some neat applications of economic principles or are related to teaching:
In a bid to tame crowd chaos, the world’s most famous fountain is no longer free [The Art Newspaper]
Mapping the changing cost of car insurance across the US [Axios]
The economics of dog shows [The Hustle]
Consumer spending on Valentine’s Day is expected to hit a record $29.1 billion this year [National Retail Federation]
British survey finds rising numbers of kindergarten-age kids struggle with basic life skills [The Guardian]
We usually think of bakery smells as a good thing. But a town in Massachusetts shows what happens when that smell follows you home, day after day. This week’s article explores externalities, prices, and why some costs never show up on receipts. Catch up on the full piece if you missed it.
Some Massachusetts Residents Are a Little Tired of Running on Dunkin’
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Right. British children begin "reception" the September after their 4th birthday. The Guardian article blames lack of child care for these children on "excessive screen time" -- of course. This enables them to blame parents. But we are economists -- we dig. ChatGPT says reasons are:
1. Parental awareness & expectations
Some surveys suggest that a significant number of parents don’t recognise toilet training as an essential milestone before school starts, or they’re unsure when and how to do it. In some polls, parents said they didn’t think toilet training mattered before Reception.
2. Reduced early-years support services
Cuts to community support like health visitors, children’s centres and family hubs over recent years mean fewer opportunities for professional guidance at key early ages (e.g., around 2–3 years) when toilet training typically happens.
3. Changes in parenting patterns & childcare
Work pressures: More dual-working families and less time at home can make consistent toilet training routines harder to maintain.
Childcare settings vary in how much support or advice they offer around self-care skills.
Cultural shifts: Some parents might delay starting toilet training until a child seems ready, which can push training closer to school age.
4. Increased screen time & less hands-on interaction
Teachers frequently link excessive screen exposure with weaker development of concentration, language and motor skills — all of which can interact with self-care learning like toilet training. Kids who spend lots of time with screens might have fewer opportunities for real-world practice and parent-child engagement.
5. Health or developmental factors
Some children have medical issues — like constipation, urinary difficulties, or developmental conditions — that delay toilet-training progress and may not be obvious without GP or specialist support.
6. Pandemic and cohort effects
There’s commentary (and some parent/teacher anecdote) suggesting that COVID-19 lockdowns and reduced early childhood social experiences might have disrupted typical developmental progress, including self-care skills. While not the only cause, it’s part of the broader conversation about why some children are less school-ready
I will focus especially on No 3: cultural shifts. These are also economic shifts. Two-job families means no one is home to care for children. Child care is too expensive for almost everyone in the US, but in the UK there are subsidies for up to 30 hours per week (less than an average working week), especially for families with two working adults. In the UK, as in the US, extended families usually do not live together, so the parents do not have the benefit of experienced care-givers (nor, to be fair, their constant advice). None of this is parents' fault.
Let's not ignore COIVID restrictions -- it is likely that these had a larger influence on psychology of parents and thus children than most of us recognize. Gemini says "Research, including findings up to 2023, shows an increase in generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and depression among students, with mental well-being scores declining, suggesting significant, ongoing impacts on children entering school during that period. "
"Calculate the price elasticity of demand of the Trevi fountain" would be a good exam question! (Does it make sense to discuss the pointwise elasticity of demand at the initial price of €0?)
Fun fact: car insurance is optional in NH yet 89% of drivers carry it. Neighboring MA has compulsory insurance but a compliance rate of only 94%.
The UK is lost. If fully a third of your children can't eat, drink, use a toilet, or operate a book, that's a societal failing firmly anchored in parenting failing.