Tuesday's Assorted Links
Harvard tuition, snacks, egg smuggling, congestion pricing, and helicopter externalities
Hi y’all! Here are five stories from this week that contained some neat applications of economic principles or are related to teaching:
Harvard has expanded its financial aid program to make the university tuition-free for families earning less than $200,000 per year [ABC News]
Chips and cookies have gotten too expensive, so shoppers are buying less [CNN Business]
U.S. officials are cracking down on people trying to smuggle valuable eggs across the border [CBC]
New York City’s congestion pricing raised around $52 million in toll revenue in February, bringing the program’s total to $100.6 million for its first two months of operation [Gothamist]
People are taking helicopter fighters around New York City as a form of transportation, but they don’t consider the cost imposed on everyone else [The Hustle]
Have you gotten one of those scam texts claiming you owe an unpaid toll? They look official. They come with threats about fines or license suspensions. And they’re everywhere. This isn’t just about fraud—it’s about economics. These scams rely on a strategy called a separating equilibrium to filter out the most likely targets.
Why Scam Texts About Unpaid Tolls Just Won’t Stop
Have you been getting those toll road text messages lately? The ones that claim you owe a few bucks—and that if you don’t pay now, your license might be suspended? You’re not alone
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