Fair trade gains popularity, while free trade is undergoing more and more criticism. Since international free trade supposedly pollutes the environment, promotes the utilization of sweatshops, exploits child labor, and impoverishes developing countries, fair trade is a preferable alternative...

A number of economists maintain that (discounted marginal revenue) productivity determines wages; since women have less of this characteristic than do men, on average, their wages are lower. This is not necessarily because of any intrinsic “failure” on the part of females. Rather, it stems...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss a unique principal–agent dilemma, one that is very much off the beaten track. The relationship of the Popes pre-1500 and God was one full of emptiness and strain. The Catholic Church was saved by a positive externality of the printing press...

The present paper is an exploration of the economics of subjectivism and opportunity or alternative costs. Most contemporary economists pay lip service to these concepts, but when push comes to shove, all too often they jettison them. We shall illustrate this lapse from basic economics with a...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the minimum wage law is deleterious to the unskilled, to the young and to members of minority groups. Design/methodology/approach – The main method used in this paper is the logical application of basic supply and demand economic...

This article presents the proper analysis of indifference curve systems once some of the simplifying assumptions used to teach beginning students are relaxed. First, the diminishing MRS assumption is relaxed to allow the existence of concave4 indifference curves. Then the more-is-better...

Through comprehensive case studies of privately planned cities and neighbourhood in Asia, Europe and North America, this book characterizes the theoretical basis and empirical manifestations of private urban planning. In this innovative volume, Andersson and Moroni develop an under-studied...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze South Park's take on the causes of the recession and the housing bubble. Design/methodology/approach – The essay describes the events in the South Park episode and compares them to the respective events of the recession and the housing...