The NBA season is grueling.  Players report in September and the season ends in April, Of course, if your team is successful you might compete until June.  But for most players, the entire season is not much more than six months long. For the women of the WNBA the story is different.  Training camps open in April and the season ends in September. So like the NBA, the WNBA is about a six-month commitment. But when the WNBA season ends, the majority of the players join a league in another country.  This means that for many women, professional basketball is a year-long job. Economists have a habit of thinking that money is the only thing that motivates people. Often that approach to human behavior is too simplistic.  But in the case of the women who play professional basketball, money really seems to be a huge issue. As noted in Sports Economics (and updated for this article at Forbes) there is a significant gender-wage gap between the NBA and WNBA. Give the WNBA's minimum ticket price, attendance, and television broadcasting deal the league earned at least $51.5 million in revenue in 2017. But the league paid less than $12 million to its players. So the players were paid less than 25% of the league's revenue.  And this is an overstatement of the amount received. In contrast, the NBA pays 50% of its revenue to its players.  The gap between the best players and the average player in the NBA is also much wider.  Steph Curry receives a maximum wage in the NBA.  But if this wage was determined as it is in the WNBA, Curry's wage would fall from $34.7 million in 2017-18 to less than $5 million.  And that would be the outcome even if the NBA's revenue didn't change. In other words, the best players in the NBA have a huge incentive to solely focus on their NBA career. In contrast, players in the WNBA need to think of other ways -- besides playing for the WNBA -- to earn a living. As s consequence, we see labor market outcomes that are not found in other major men’s professional sports.  For example, Diana Taurasi was paid by UMMC Ekaterinburg (the Russian team she also plays for) to NOT play in the WNBA in 2015. And now we are seeing something similar. Emma Meesseman has been with the Washington Mystics since 2013, playing primarily as the starting center since 2014.  From 2013 to 2017 she produced 17.6 wins (see Sports Economics and The Ladies League for how this is calculated).  This represents about 20% of the team's wins across these years.  In sum, Meesseman has consistently been a good player. But as Ava Wallace of the Washington Post reports, Meesseman is not playing in the WNBA in 2018. As Mike Thibault -- General Manager of the Mystics -- stated: “Emma has played year-round for almost six consecutive years, without time to rest her body from the wear and tear that results from that kind of schedule.” Meesseman is only 24 years old.  But playing year-round for six consecutive years takes it toll.  So now the WNBA will be missing out on one of its better players in 2018. The solution to this is simple. The WNBA has to follow the lead of UMMC Ekaterinburg and find a way to pay its players enough money to play less basketball. Such a move wouldn’t just make it better for WNBA players.  As I argued recently for Forbes, higher pay for players is also in the interest of the league. More pay for players could lead more girls to devote time to playing basketball. As argued in Sports Economics, expanding your talent pool leads to more competitive balance.  In sum, more pay today can make the WNBA better tomorrow.  So, it’s in the WNBA’s interest to do what it can to make sure players like Meesseman do not make similar choices in the future.  But to make that happen, the WNBA has to get more money to its players today. ... View more

With less than three minutes to play in the Super Bowl, Tom Brady and the Patriots needed a touchdown to win the Super Bowl. Last year Brady and the Patriots overcame a 28-3 deficit to win their fifth Super Bowl. So many people watching were expecting yet another Brady comeback. Two plays later, though, disaster struck. The Eagles sacked Brady and forced a fumble. A few plays later the Eagles kicked a field goal to give them an eight-point lead. But again, Brady got the ball back with over a minute to play.  Despite being given another chance, though, Brady couldn’t find any magic. After not making much progress to move down the field a last second Hail Mary fell to the ground in the end zone. And with that, Brady and the Patriots went home losers. So, what happened to Brady? If you think you know, check the data. As the very last pages of Sports Economics reports, quarterbacks – no matter how you measure performance – are very inconsistent. At least, relative to athletes in basketball, what a quarterback does from season-to-season is hard to predict. The reason for this is simple. A quarterback’s performance depends on his teammates. A quarterback requires linemen to block and receivers to catch for a pass play to work.  It also helps to have a reliable running game.  Plus the decisions of offensive coordinates – who often call the plays – also matters. A few things could have happened on Brady’s fumble. Maybe his line could have blocked better. Maybe his receivers could have done better to get open. Maybe the play could have been different. Or maybe everyone else was playing well and Brady simply didn’t pass the ball quick enough and/or didn’t maintain ball security. All of this means that researchers who wish to use American football data to answer questions in labor economics have a problem. Researchers wish to use data from sports to measure the marginal productivity of athletes. But because the stats we use to track individual performance in American football depend on the player’s teammates, this data really can’t be used to measure marginal productivity. So, researchers who need marginal productivity data to answer economic questions… well, they might want to look for another sport!  ... View more

When I mentioned to friends that I was planning a trip to Kazakhstan, the most common response was “that’s where Borat is from”, referring to the fictional character portrayed by Sasha Baron Cohen in the popular 2006 comedy film. But unlike the impoverished backward nation portrayed in the movie, visitors to Kazakhstan will find a destination far different than one might imagine. Kazakhstan is a mountainous country, nestled in Central Asia with the Tai Shan Mountains serving as a backdrop to Almaty, its largest city. Economically, Kazakhstan had benefited tremendously in the late 2000s and early 2010s when the price of oil and natural gas (its most abundant resources) peaked. But unlike other developing countries which had squandered their oil wealth due to corruption, Kazakhstan invested heavily in infrastructure and education, leading to beautiful, modern cities with wide avenues and efficient public transportation systems. Kazakhstan’s emphasis on education, especially science and math, can be tied to its important role as the home and original launch site (which remains today as a result of a lease agreement between Kazakhstan and Russia) of the Russian Space Program. Ensuring all citizens have access to both primary and higher education is a key government priority that has led Kazakhstan to experience rapid economic growth. A visit to Astana, the capital, might confuse a weary traveler with other dynamically growing cities such as Dubai or Shanghai. Kazakhstan’s infrastructure development allowed it to bid for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Although it lost its bid to Beijing, Kazakhstan made a positive impression on the Olympic Committee, making a future bid more likely to be successful. And perhaps the most striking observation of Kazakhstan is its people. Most Kazakhs resemble the Chinese more than Russian in physical appearance. In terms of tourism, although there are plenty of hotels, modern airports, and beautiful attractions, one will find very few American and European tourists. For that reason, very few Kazakhs speak English, and English signs are not very common. But that should not deter one from visiting this beautiful country. Just turn on the Google Translate app, and venture out and interact with some of the most-friendly people in the world. - Eric Chiang, Author of Economics: Principles for a Changing World ... View more

Among the most famous and popular animals in the world is the panda bear, whose existence in the forests of central China had been threatened by deforestation and economic development throughout the 20th century. Since the 1970s, however, conservation efforts have allowed the panda population to nearly double, allowing scientists and tourists from around the world to observe their majestic qualities and playful personalities. On a recent visit to Chengdu (currently the fourth largest city in China with a population of over 14 million), I enjoyed a unique experience unavailable anywhere else in the world. In the foothills of the Qionglai mountains about an hour’s drive west of Chengdu is the Dujiangyan Panda Research Center, which is home to approximately 20 pandas including U.S.-born pandas Tai Shan (born in 2005) and Bao Bao (born in 2013), both of whom were born in the National Zoo in Washington D.C. and subsequently returned to China under the panda lease agreement. Unlike many zoos outside of China which are privileged to host usually at most two pandas at a time, the Dujiangyan Panda Center allows tourists to visit over a dozen pandas for a small admission fee of about $12. However, for a significantly larger “donation”, one can experience pandas much more up close. For a payment of about $120, one can become a “volunteer” for the day, helping to prepare food for the pandas and cleaning up their dens. But the ultimate experience requires one to plunk down an additional $300. This buys you 20 seconds to sit alone with and hug a panda cub, just enough time to capture priceless memories via photos and video. Despite the hefty fee, demand is very high and the experience (limited to 20 persons per day) sells out weeks in advance. All of the funds collected are used to advance further conservation efforts, which has recently allowed the panda to be removed from the endangered species list. - Eric Chiang, Author of Economics: Principles for a Changing World ... View more

Among my most memorable trips in recent years include visiting remote towns in the Arctic, where there are no roads connecting to other towns, and limited access to waterways due to the sea being frozen for much of the year. In two towns that I visited, Barrow, Alaska, and Iqaluit, Nunavut, the only viable means of transport for passengers and goods is by air. For most of us urban-dwellers and rural residents who live in towns connected to one another, we are accustomed to seeing prices of everyday consumption goods based on the cost of raw materials and other inputs that contribute to their wholesale price. The difference in retail prices between a department store in Akron and a convenience store in Los Angeles is based on factors such as competition, economies of scale, and taxes. But one input we often take for granted is the transportation cost, given the efficiencies of the shipping industry that allow goods to be transported quickly and efficiently throughout the country. However, in the Arctic north, prices are largely dependent on transportation costs, because everything other than the few locally-made items is delivered by air. Therefore, retail markups are largely calculated based on the wholesale price plus a large premium for the air freight. Consequently, prices for heavy household items such as laundry detergent and cat litter that typically sell for less than $10 at a Walmart or Target can be five to ten times that cost in Iqaluit. Moreover, heavy items that are also perishable such as orange juice and milk can have an even higher markup. Meanwhile, goods that are relatively light and have a longer shelf life, such as microwave popcorn, have prices that are much closer to what we are used to. Visiting towns that are largely cut off from the rest of the world provides a unique perspective to market pricing, which subsequently influences the goods that residents in these faraway places consume. ... View more

Well, sort of. Eric Chiang​ and I arrived in Dubai from South Africa late last night for our final and briefest stop on the Around the World tour. One of the first things I noticed when we arrived was this bottled water with the slogan, "water is life." Makes sense, I thought. Dubai is one of the United Arab Emirates on the Persian Gulf just East of Saudi Arabia, so got really salty water on one side and then one of the driest deserts in the world there, so a certain amount of reverence for fresh water is logical. One thing you need to know about Dubai is that everything is over the top. It's like Vegas meets New York City. The United Arab Emirates are of course extremely rich in oil (the federation is an OPEC country), and Dubai, recognizing that eventually the wells will dry up, has been in the process of reinventing itself as a cultural and banking hub in the middle east. Excess is everywhere, but it was still a bit surprising to find myself staring at a giant aquarium (complete with sharks) in the middle of the Dubai mall: If that wasn't enough, they've got a man made lake (with boats of course) and fountain shows every hour that put the Bellagio in Vegas to shame. For what a country with what I figured had a cultural reverence for fresh water, they seemed to be flaunting the water they did had, and that's the point. The reason we were there was to talk about factors of production. I mentioned this in my last post with the lions: basically the three main factors that go into producing anything are land, labor, and capital. Like South Africa, Dubai wanted to solve an economic problem and restructure its economy to not be as reliant on oil. So how did they do that with the production factors they had? Well they don't have much labor since the country's population is so small. In terms of land, they have a ton of oil which in turn generates lots of capital, but they don't have resources like fresh water to allow their city to grow, and they don't have a decent natural port to facilitate trade. Now there's kind of a 4th factor that's often lumped in with capital, and that's innovation or entrepreneurship, and Dubai has that in spades. Basically, they've done a lot of things right; one of first things the UAE did after its incorporation was to develop a comprehensive education system, including universities. They've also provided incentives for foreign schools like NYU, American University, and even the Sorbonne to set up campuses there. They used their investment capital to develop their intellectual capital (innovation). Need fresh water? Use both your capital and innovation to build desalinization plants. Need labor? Use your capital to provide incentives for labor forces from India, Pakistan, and Russia to work there (85% of Dubai's population is expats). Want to draw attention to your city as world hub? Use your innovation, capital, and new found labor to build the tallest building in the world (Burj Khalifa): If you've got enough capital and labor you can even build a port from scratch. The point is, if you use the production factors that you do have wisely, you can overcome deficits in factors you don't have. With a population of 2.5 million and a bustling tourist trade enjoying world class shopping and even an ice rink and man-made ski mountain in the middle of the desert, Dubai is a success story in that regard. Up next, planes, trains, automobiles, and the conclusion of this blog. ... View more

You might remember a short time ago there was somewhat of a controversy over a dentist from the US "mistakenly" killing a famed and beloved lion, Cecil, for sport. It was illegal both in Zimbabwe, where it occurred, and you can't import trophy animals into the US. The controversy stems from the fact that there's a strong economic argument for limited legalization of both these things. Ok, Econ 101. The three main factors of producing anything are land, labor, and capital. You can think of land as any natural resource, i.e. Lions (sorry, Cecil). If you're Zimbabwe or say, South Africa, and you have a major income inequality problem, and you're rich in both natural resources and labor, but have issues with the 3rd factor, how do you best use the resources that you have to solve the problem? One solution, favored by Kenya, is to sell a limited number of lion permits to hunters for a very high price. This revenue goes straight back to game parks to conserve the rest of lion population, the permits are ONLY for specific lions (these particular lions are chosen because they would have to removed from the population for biological reasons, anyway), and finally hunters of that wealth spend a lot of money on guides, etc. that goes directly to the local economy. They key is that this lion population has to be managed responsibly and the country needs to have solid institutions to make his work; Kenya has this, Zimbabwe does not. Of course, this is controversial even from an economics standpoint, and you can listen to the con argument on this great episode of Radio Lab. Of course, there's an alternative to utilizing your "lion resource" this way, and that's to rely on relatively low impact eco tourism as South Africa does. Eric Chiang​ and I actually didn't think we'd have enough time to explore the Johannesburg Lion Park, but Elias, being awesome, just said, "YAH! We can make that happen." So we went on "safari." It was an amazing experience. We saw springbok (South African national animal), zebras, water buffalo, cheetahs, wild dogs, and of course, lots of lions. I'll try to post as many photos as I can buy I want to point out two things. First, it wasn't a zoo, it was a game park; meaning that the animals had hundreds of acres of free range. Second, it seems to be run well and it was generating lots of income for the local economy both through admissions, photos, and souvenirs. Thomas Acox​, get ready for your new Zulu fly swatter. Your adventures Eric Chiang​ and Thomas Digiano​. By the way, the rumors are not true. Eric was not attacked by this lion cub, he was merely nibbled upon. Up next, we travel all the up through Africa to Dubai! ... View more

Johannesburg is a city of extremes. Within less than a mile of each other there are areas of affluence and areas of abject poverty. Without mincing words, it's a dangerous city. To be on the safe side, Eric Chiang​ and I stayed in one of the nicer areas, Sandton. Due to the generous exchange rate (15 rand = $1) we were able to stay at a pretty swanky hotel for less than $200. Why not just a normal Hilton? In order to visit the not-so-nice places like downtown Johannesburg, you need a hotel with a good concierge service to find you a driver/guide to take you there (they're supposedly that dangerous). I promised my fiancee I'd be back in one piece and I also promised my new bosses I'd bring Eric Chiang back in one piece, so we opted for a nice option and we got Elias, so good call there. Here's a picture of Mandela Square, which was right next to the hotel: Sandton has the look and feel of Beverly Hills, so we wanted get out and see what downtown Johannesburg was like. Typically highest crime and poverty rates are on the outskirts of townships, ironically called "suburbs", where truly low income individual were forced from government housing. Elias told us that the downtown of Joburg was actually a pretty nice place up until about 15 years ago, but when wealthy people flocked to areas like Sandton, where newer, bigger, and more luxurious housing could be had, it developed a serious case of urban blight. There are a few remnants of the former affluent culture: a heavily barred BMW dealership, but for the most part it's a lot of urban blight: Elias wouldn't let us out of the car here, but honestly I've seen areas of the Bronx and Brooklyn that looked just as rough if not rougher. Still, we didn't want to risk it, and after we got an impression of the place, we continued on to Soweto. As I've mentioned, Soweto is the area of Joburg where both Bishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela are from (the same street actually): Like some of the area names in New York (ie, SoHo), Soweto actually simply stands for Southwest Township. It's actually a collection of neighborhoods that were formally incorporated when the apartheid government decided to build tracts of ramshackle housing in order to relocate Bantu people from more desirable area. It's the largest township and was the seat of the anti-apartheid movement for almost 40 years. if the 2 mile or so distance between Sandton and downtown seemed like a case study for income inequality, then Soweto is a thesis in itself. The houses at the top of Soweto's sloping streets, are decent brick affairs that you might see in Southern California, except for the fact that they are all walled in and most have either razor wire or cameras on their exterior. Mandela's house is towards the bottom part of this neighborhood and it's interesting to see how a restaurants and shops have sprung up around it from the tourist dollars it draws in (the house is a museum). As you move down the hill, the houses turn to more regimented government-built affairs. Minimal electricity and running water, and to me at least, they look a bit like German POW camps from WWII: Finally, beyond these houses are the "suburbs" where the poorest of the poor have been relegated. These are the types of shanty towns you see in National Geographic: tin shacks, burning trash, goals and livestock roaming around, and one spigot to provide water for the whole village. I struggled with writing this post. We were being driven through these scenes in a new silver Mercedes with a driver who came from a similar area (the hotel owned the car). Part of me still feels guilt over this, but then the reason why we were there in the first place was to help educate people about terrible economic problems like this. Mandela's fame is obviously the big tourist draw for the area, but I know that we weren't the only tourists Elias drove through these other parts of Soweto, and I really think he does so for the harshness of the economic reality to hit home. I could hear it in his voice when he spoke about the place. The last I want to mention about Soweto is that the Chris Hani hospital is located there. This is the hospital I mentioned in my first Africa post - it's the third largest in the world. Like much of Africa, Johannesburg is suffering from an HIV epidemic, and the Hani hospital treats literally thousands of patients suffering from AIDS. Elias mentioned this as we drove by, and pointed out that it was visiting hours. On the bright side, we did see evidence of a pretty substantial government campaign promoting safe sex, and there were other clues as to the government's efforts to Reduce poverty and lessen the income gap. Next up, a lighter post: LIONS ! ... View more

I recognize this is supposed to be a live blog, but I have to be honest and let you know that I'm actually writing this while flying over the African continent on the way to Dubai. I'm letting you know this because the following posts are out of chronological order. Even though it wasn't the very first thing Eric Chiang and I did when we arrived in Johannesburg this morning, I need to start with our visit to the Apartheid Museum because apartheid really sets the stage for any discussion of economics in South Africa. First things first, this is our guide, Elias: Elias is amazing. He speaks 7 languages fluently, and is unfailingly polite, upbeat, and savvy. He knows the history of South Africa as someone who lived through some of its most tumultuous periods. He was born in 1976 in Alexandra, probably Johannesburg's second most famous township for reasons I'll get to in just a minute. On the way to the museum he told us about his own experiences with apartheid when he was at a government-run school: corporal punishment, cops shooting tear gas canisters in to classrooms - all really grim stuff. He basically told us that we'd feel terrible when we left the museum, and he was right. Here's an outside shot of the apartheid museum: The museum seeks to make an impact before you've even entered the doors... which are segregated. Here's my admission ticket (Eric Chiang's was for whites): In a lot of ways the museum is overwhelming, so let me try to distill it down to a few key points: 1.    Economics was a big part of apartheid. First, some of its roots start with the Boer War in the late 19th century, where the British colonial force came in and basically tried to wipe out the Zulu tribes and Boer (Dutch) settlers in the area. Why? They found diamonds in the Northern part of the country. This shattered any independence the Zulu kingdoms had and forced them into an uneasy colonial state with the Dutch settlers and the English. Second, gold was later discovered around Johannesburg. South Africa’s capital isn’t a port or on a trade route, it’s a mining town, and gold mines still dot its landscape. Here's one right beyond the soccer stadium built for the 2010 World Cup (the yellow mound): From here, you can probably piece it together. The white mine owners needed massive amounts of cheap labor to work the mines, which was in turn supplied by the Bantu (term for any native African), because they could no longer farm or support themselves independently under colonial rule. 2.    Apartheid was a codified set of laws: So wealthy [powerful] white mine owners really needed cheap Bantu labor to support the growth the mining industry, but they were concerned about being overrun since population-wise they were in a minority and were forcing deplorable conditions on the labor force. This is a common theme you hear in the interviews of the people who drafted the apartheid laws. As the industry grew, they drafted more and more laws to keep the Bantu population in check (most of which were aimed at keeping them from obtaining economic independence). Here’s a picture of a museum wall depicting all the laws: Side note: I felt inclined to draw comparisons with Jim Crow laws in the US, but most of these apartheid laws were drafted in the second half of the 20 th century. It's all so very recent. Additionally, Jim Crow laws just weren't nearly as extensive or instituted on a national level to specifically keep industry going. 3.    Apartheid was about displacement: Make no mistake, racism was of course the driving force behind apartheid. Wealthy whites did not want to live amongst their Bantu labor force, and as whites grew wealthier and the population grew, they continually forced large segments of the Bantu populations to townships like Elias’ Alexandra and Soweto, where Nelson Mandela was from. Not coincidentally, there were massive housing shortages, and the apartheid government built what were essentially slums to exercise further control over the population. So those are my takeaways from the museum. I'm definitely oversimplifying things, and I’m not any sort of an expert, but I hope I’ve gotten across just intertwined economics is in all of this. Up next, we got to the most famous Johannesburg township, home of Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu, Soweto. ... View more

"I bless the rains down in Africa / Gonna take some time to do the things we never had..." Aside from Toto making almost zero grammatical sense in their  famous 80's hit, I always thought they were singing that they missed the rains down in Africa. Makes me think of lush, verdant jungles or a soft rain on the Serengeti. I get that. What's with the beatitudes? Also, Hakuna Matata is a Swahili expression, and originates from somewhere around Kenya rather than way down in South Africa. They've got Zulus (warriors) down here, and I don't think those guys have too many delightful little quips that Disney is going to adopt any time soon. So if you forgive my little aside there (these posts are probably going to get weirder the more sleep deprived I become), I brought those things up because they're both misconceptions about Africa. More to the point, I think the average [American]  just doesn't know too much about Africa or South Africa in particular. At least I didn't. The other reason I wanted to start off with some levity is that we came to South Africa to examine the economic concept of income inequality here. That, in and of itself, can be a very difficult topic for many people to write about (myself included), and it's made even more difficult by just how incredibly stark the disparities in income are in South Africa. The economics behind  income inequality here in South Africa might not actually be that complex, but the socio/political history of course is. Take South African currency, the rand, for example. Who's the most famous South African you can think of? Former President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nelson Mandela, right? Well, all the paper money here has his face on one side, and only his face: The other side of the bills features different native wildlife - safe, non-political animals. Why the focus on Mandela? He certainly wasn't the only activist leader fighting apartheid; the Johannesburg airport is named after his partner in his law practice, O.R. Tambo. The largest hospital in Johannesburg (3rd largest in the world!) is named after assassinated SACP leader, Chris Hani. Mandela was undoubtedly a great man and did a great deal to end apartheid, but I think in some ways he's become a safe figurehead. South African history is bloody, complex, and many of its wounds are not too far in the past. I think it might be difficult to so prominently feature other leaders without aggravating some of these wounds. We had another whirlwind day in Johannesburg, so coming up I'll try to focus on the three major parts of our day here; the apartheid museum, a look at Soweto Township, and LIONS. ... View more

This afternoon, Jeffrey Young of The Chronicle of Higher Education, interviewed Christine Ortiz, dean of education at MIT, as a follow up to the article he wrote last month on a new nonprofit university she is leaving MIT to start, that provides students with a well-structured global education experience in a non-traditional format.  She shared some of her interdisciplinary vision via a slide that highlighted personalized learning in the knowledge domain, core science and engineering, and humanities, arts and social sciences (visualization credited to Jason Chuang).  Ortiz emphasized students being engaged, passionate, and that they would have flexibility in their day.  She sees the new classroom as focused on project-based learning and investigation to advance students to higher levels of learning, led by mentors (more one-on-one interactions versus standard lectures). The curriculum will not only be STEM but will incorporate the humanities, and it will have accreditation in place to insure quality.  How do you create global educational experiences in your classroom? What project based learning assignments have you done successfully? If you’re looking to incorporate more active learning in your economics classroom, Worth Economics supports your efforts with EconED Active, a site dedicated to open resources for active learning in your classroom.  And follow our author Eric Chiang and Marketing Manager Thomas Digiano  as they travel around the world to gather ideas for taking your Principles of Economics course global. Watch for how this Around the World feature gets incorporated in Chiang's upcoming book, Economics: Principles for a Changing World 4e. ... View more

Before I leave our adventures in Brazil and turn to South Africa, I wanted to round back to on a point I made earlier about what effect the slow down of the Chinese economy might have on the Brazilian economy. Also, we just saw a guy literally jump off a bridge (he's ok): Eric Chiang​ being the consummate world traveler, actually researched how much the taxi ride from the airport would cost us: about 100 Brazilan reals or about $27. The cost ended up being 120 reals, and in fact we found that most prices were about 20% more than expected due to inflation. Historically, Brazil has had lots of problems with inflation. In fact, as recent as the early 1990's, they had hyperinflation, where average goods would costs millions of reals and the price would radically fluctuate to the point where consumers couldn't effectively shop. In short, they lost confidence in the stability of their currency (remember the ongoing theme about the importance of stable institutions) and the economy suffered. In 1994 the government decided to do something radical, and effectively "jump off a bridge" with its currency. They just up and invented a new kind of money that was strictly regulated and [initially] pegged to the US dollar. I'm oversimplifying, what's now a classic macroeconomic case study, but there's a great This American Life episode on it, that really brings it to life. Ok, but what does that have to do with China and paying more for a cab ride? Well, Brazil mainly exports things like transportation equipment, iron ore, soy beans, all of which are typically in heavy demand by their #1 trade partner, China (17% of exports). Unless you've been spending a lot of time in your bunker lately, you've probably heard that the Chinese economy has started to slow from its breakneck growth rate (check out Robert Feenstra's virtual EconED talk on 4/1 to hear why). As their economy slows, they buy less goods from Brazil, which in turn decreases the amount of revenue the government takes in through taxes. There are a lot of reasons why inflation can occur, and I won't pretend to know exactly why, but a couple of likely culprits are several tax hikes the Brazilian government instituted last year, as well as simply printing more currency to make up for the deficit. Paul Krugman​ talks about something similar with his  "stagnation" talk given at EconED 2014. Brazil's highest inflation in 12 years: Enough about inflation, one weird side note before I go: Volkswagen is the best known car brand in Brazil. They have 4 factories here and stopped manufacturing classics like the original "Beetle" and the "Microbus" 10 years after the rest of the world had stopped making them. You still see them all over the place and they seem to be the vehicle of choice for roadside vendors. Between the crazy street art and all the VW busses, Brazil might be the place for you if you're an aging hippie: Ok, on to a new continent. See you in 'Joburg. ... View more

In a plenary session on the first full day of events at SXSWedu, Temple Grandin, Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University, focused participants on meeting the needs of every learner we touch.  The crowd cheered when she encouraged us to understand that people think differently and we need to bridge the gap between the field and academics.  “A lot of my work has been observation. Observation is a part of science.”  She went on to say, “When I learned how my visual thinking was different from verbal thinking, it gave me insight into how different people’s brains approach problem solving. If I don’t have a picture, I don’t have a thought.”  Drawing from her observations in the field, she cited her exposure to different experiences that created opportunities that some labeled students aren’t getting to. "How did I find my passion? I was exposed to it."  She showed real concern for obstacles education creates for students, like a student who was denied taking a biology class that she really wanted to take because she wasn’t able to first pass her algebra class.  The talk really left me thinking—what are we trying to accomplish in the economics classroom?  Are we preparing materials for different kinds of thinkers as we create our lessons?  Are there enough visuals to encourage the visual learners and enough content to support the language-based thinkers?  And, are we exposing students to enough economics to get them interested in the field?    ... View more

I'm a bit behind because Brazil was such a fast paced tour. We've got a bit more time in South Africa now, so hopefully I can catch up (technically I'm still writing about Brazil while I'm in Africa). Sao Paulo is certainly not Rio, we didn't see any "City of God" type slums, but that isn't to say it's a completely rosie picture. With cities its size, there's always going to be nice areas and some not so nice areas. One of the unique things about Sao Paulo is its graffiti, or a better term would perhaps be "street art." I think it's fair to say that it's a common form of expression in the lower income areas of the city we visited; some of it was satirical, some overtly political, some of it was simply "tagging" (just a publicly spray painted symbol or word denoting the tagger), but much of it was absolutely beautiful. One of the reasons we visited Sao Paulo is "Beco do Batman." or, Batman alley. One of the things the municipal government there has done is to commission accomplished street artists to paint the walls of this particular alley. This is so the alley will draw tourists, tourists will spend money in that area of the city, which in turn will spur economic growth and raise the living conditions for those living in that area of the city. It's a classic example of aggregate expenditure and the multiplier effect, and it will appear as an example of such in Eric Chiang​'s new upcoming 4th edition of Economics: Principles for a Changing World.  Bruce Wayne lives here: Just a few examples of the graffiti. I'll post the rest later: This is from Space Invader, a world-famous street artist who works in mosaics: Finally, the government spending might have worked too well: evidence of gentrification in this developers' notice: ... View more

As I've mentioned the main reason why Eric Chiang​ and I are on this adventure is to turn much of the material and experiences we're gathering into a new feature (Around the World) for his upcoming book, Economics: Principles for a Changing World 4e. At this point, I want to turn to turn to some economic issues that we've already planned on including in the book (I can say this with authority now that I'm the editor ). Bet you didn't know that Brazil has the largest population of people of Japanese descent outside of Japan - approximately 1.5 million. Just a weird fact? 'Course not. We're all about economics here. The reason why has everything to do with labor and our old pal, coffee. Check out this Japanese daruma doll our cab driver from the airport had on his dashboard: Back in the early 1900's, Brazil's main export was, you guessed it- coffee. At that time coffee was just starting to become extremely popular and its demand was increasing exponentially. Brazil needed labor to work its coffee plantations. This is around the same time that fuedalism in Japan formally ended, and all of the sudden a major labor force was looking for work. In 1907 Brazil and Japan signed a formal immigration treaty, and when both World Wars curtailed any european labor available for the coffee plantations, the Japanese immigration numbers boomed: That's just part of the story though, notice how immigration numbers fall off in the 60's. This is because Japan's economy took off after the US occupation ended and there was no longer an incentive for the Japanese labor force to emigrate. One of the unique things about the Japanese population in Japan is the depth to which they've been assimilated into the culture here (some would argue forceably). Much of the population is 4th or 5th generation by this point, no longer speaks Japanese, and identifies as Brazilian (though as you'll see, there are still many cultural markers of their heritage. Today, we trekked out to the Liberdade area of São Paulo, where much of this group is concentrated, to witness the first hand effects of a shift in the labor market: Up next, graffiti, inflation, and then South Africa! ... View more