Hi y’all! Here are five stories from the week that contain some neat applications of economic principles or are related to teaching:
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have formed a union [NBC News]
A business school professor says it’s time to abolish business schools [The New York Times Opinion]
Los Angeles bar owner uses Kalshi bet to offset lost revenue from Dodgers’ NLCS loss [Sports Business Journal]
Paint makers are seeing a major sales surge from the AI boom [The New York Times]
Halloween candy sales are off to a slow start amid high chocolate prices and affordability concerns [Associated Press]
Brewing beer at home is legal, but distilling whiskey at home can land you in federal prison. The Supreme Court just agreed to decide next summer whether that 1868 ban is constitutional. This week’s article traces the ban back to Alexander Hamilton’s 1791 whiskey tax, a tax that sparked an armed rebellion and later paid for a third of the federal government.
Hamilton’s Whiskey Tax Goes to the Supreme Court
If you wanted to start brewing beer at home this weekend, nothing’s really stopping you. You could order a starter kit online and have a batch bubbling in your closet in a few days. The same goes for wine, hard cider, mead, or kombucha. The law isn’t even hazy on this one: Congress has
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Dang NYT paywall, guess I'll never know what that guy thinks about business schools or why LLMs need more paint
I will console myself by spending all the money I'm saving by not supporting the Grey Lady to buy all that candy on clearance on Nov 1