Global & Applied
Economics in the wild — trade, inequality, and the markets that shape daily life.
39 articles
FeaturedTrade Policy, Jobs, and the Political Economy of Protection
If economists agree trade grows the pie, why is protection so popular? Gains are spread thin, losses concentrated — and politics rewards the loud.
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Deep Dives
Inside Non-Tariff Barriers: Quotas, Standards, and the Hidden Costs of Trade Protection
Tariffs are visible taxes. Quotas, standards, and red tape are quieter — and often costlier, handing the markup to foreigners instead of your treasury.
Trade Doesn't Cost Jobs — It Moves Them. Here's the Evidence.
The idea that imports destroy jobs and trade is zero-sum is intuitive, persistent, and wrong in the aggregate — but the real story is more honest than either…
Environmental Economics: Pricing the Planet and the Policy Math Behind Climate Action
Carbon is the textbook negative externality. The fix is a price — a carbon tax or cap-and-trade — set against the EPA's $190-per-ton social cost of carbon.
How Poverty Is Measured — and Why the Method Matters
The U.S. official poverty line was built from a 1963 food-budget formula. Here are the real questions people ask about how poverty is defined, measured, and…
Healthcare as a Market: Why the Economics of Medicine Break Every Standard Model
U.S. health spending hit $5.3 trillion in 2024. Three features break the standard market: asymmetric information, third-party payment, and inelastic demand.
Housing Markets: What Happens When Supply Can't Keep Up With Where People Want to Live
Home prices have outrun incomes for years. The reason is inelastic supply: housing takes years to build, and zoning caps it where demand is highest.
Should the Government Redistribute Income? The Economics of Taxes, Transfers, and Trade-Offs
The case for redistribution is real — so are the costs. Here is what the economics actually says about progressive taxes, transfers, the EITC, and the…
Platform Economics: Two-Sided Markets, Network Effects, and Why Winner-Takes-Most
Platforms connect two groups and grow more valuable as each grows. Network effects explain why these markets tip toward one giant — and draw antitrust fights.
Comparative Advantage: The Principle Behind Every Trade Relationship on Earth
Comparative advantage explains why two parties gain from trade even when one is better at everything. The math is opportunity cost, at every scale.
Quick Answers
Progressive vs. Regressive Tax: How the Burden Changes With Income
A progressive tax takes a larger percentage of income from higher earners; a regressive tax takes a larger percentage from lower earners.
Read more →Transfer Payment: Income Without a Corresponding Production Requirement
A transfer payment is a government payment to an individual not in exchange for a good or service.
Read more →Absolute vs. Comparative Advantage: The Distinction That Explains Trade
Absolute advantage is the ability to produce more of a good with the same inputs. Comparative advantage is the ability to produce at lower opportunity cost.
Read more →Social Mobility: The Ability to Move Up (or Down) the Economic Ladder
Social mobility measures how much a person's economic position can differ from their parents' — whether birth circumstances determine destiny.
Read more →Equity vs. Efficiency: Two Goals That Often Conflict
Economic equity is the fairness or justice of economic outcomes and processes. Efficiency maximizes total value; equity addresses its distribution.
Read more →Import Quota: The Quantity Limit on Foreign Goods
An import quota is a legal limit on the quantity of a foreign good that can be imported. Like a tariff, it raises domestic prices and protects domestic…
Read more →Platform Economics: The Two-Sided Markets That Reshape Industries
Platform economics analyzes two-sided (or multi-sided) markets where a platform intermediary connects two distinct user groups that each benefit from the…
Read more →Lorenz Curve: Visualizing Income Inequality
The Lorenz curve plots the cumulative share of income held by cumulative income percentiles.
Read more →Trade Surplus and Trade Deficit: What They Mean and What They Don't
A trade surplus means a country exports more than it imports; a deficit means it imports more than it exports.
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