Tuesday's Assorted Links
Hamburger Helper, Disney+, gentrification, pumpkin concierges, and industry perceptions
Hi y’all! Here are five stories from this week that contained some neat applications of economic principles or are related to teaching:
Sales of Hamburger Helper are up 14.5% through August of this year [The New York Times]
Since launching in 2019, the price of Disney+ has gone up 172% [Sherwood News]
The fonts and paint colors that signal rent is going up [Morning Brew]
Pumpkin concierges are apparently a thing [The Hustle]
The US federal government is viewed negatively by most Americans [Gallup]
Why are Lowe’s and Home Depot so often neighbors? With help from TikTok sleuth JoseMonkey, we looked at the actual data and found dozens of store pairs close enough to share a parking lot. Turns out, the reason may lie in a 1929 model involving two ice cream carts and one very competitive beach.
So, What (Economics Concepts) Can We See?
Back when I lived in State College, there was a part of town that I lovingly called the “Burrito District.” If you stood in front of the Qdoba, you could spot a Chipotle on your right and a Moe’s off in the distance. Of course, a Taco Bell was holding down the other side of the street. It was a tortilla-wrapped triangle of Tex-Mex options, all stacked s…
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"Man the federal government sucks! Let's have more of it!"