Because of changes to health care, the credit card industry, personal savings habits, and other parts of the economy, observers say that in the near future the U.S. may not look like the U.S. as we now know it. Instead, it may look a lot like … somewhere else.
Free Food! If You Can Stomach It, That Is
A roundup of 40 restaurants that will cover your tab—but only if you manage to wolf down a gluttonously mammoth meal first, often within a specific time constraint. Haven’t you always wanted to chow down on a Big Fat Ugly?
A brief moment of Jeff-Zucker-related-Schadenfreude
So it’s December 1991. I’m 27 years old, and working as a reporter in the Montgomery bureau of The Birmingham News. One Monday morning, I pick up a New York Times—I think from the rack on South Decatur Street a couple blocks from my apartment. There’s a story in it about the new executive producer of the Today show, this prematurely …
Fighting for the Right to Dry
Most people are in favor of saving energy. Dryers account for about 15% of domestic energy. So why do some communities get so upset when one of their neighbors chooses to not use a dryer?
(Not very) new column: Commercial real estate’s slow-mo train wreck
Sorry, forgot for a couple of days there that I’m a magazine columnist. Here’s what I wrote for the current issue.
What You Might Soon Be Tempted to Buy: Marijuana-Chic ‘Relaxing’ Soda, $6 Donuts
When one fad succeeds, you can be assured that similar ones will follow. New anti-energy drinks are being marketed as alternatives to (what else?) energy drinks like Red Bull, while designer donuts that cost $5 or $6 a pop are playing off the upscale cupcake craze.
It’s a Deal: Flights to Jamaica from $128 Round Trip
With a sale from Air Jamaica, round-trip flights to the island start at $128 for departures from Fort Lauderdale or Orlando, $198 from Baltimore, New York, or Philadelphia, and $208 from Chicago.
Good news for house prices
Here’s one positive bit of news from the housing front: fewer houses are seeing their prices slashed by owners desperate to sell.
In Trulia.com’s latest analysis of homes listed for sale, only 21% came up as having been previously listed at a higher price. A month ago, 22% of houses were listed at a reduced price, and over the summer 25% were.
What I Learned By Not Getting into a Car for a Year
Adam Greenfield, a 29-year-old filmmaker born in England and now residing in San Francisco, decided that for an entire year, he would not get into any sort of automobile. No SUVs, taxis, or motorcycles. Not even a ride in a hybrid or electric car. His bicycle took him nearly everywhere he needed to go.
Things I left out about Chicago economics
In a cryptic little response to my post last week on Chicago economics, the estimable Reiham Salam writes:
Justin Fox doesn’t mention Frank Knight or Jacob Viner in this post. He also suggests that John Cochrane has nothing interesting to say.
This hit a nerve. I did consider discussing the pre-1950s Chicago economics tradition …
Cheapskate Wisdom from … Economist George Loewenstein
“People are notoriously bad at figuring out what to do with their money.”
Cheapskate Wisdom from … an Automotive Diagnostician
“I am an automotive diagnostician. We look for the root cause of problems. If we treat the symptoms, the problem always comes back. With health care, we are not treating the root cause: Why does it cost so much?”