Happy New Year - I am writing again after a break over Christmas.
Should I study Latin instead of Chinese? (6 January)
Should my friend refuse to be a receptionist? (16 December)
Should I send round-robin Christmas letters? (8 December)
Are early Christmas decorations efficient? [...]
The latest Dear Economist letters are:
Should women propose? - November 4th
When is win-win a loss? - November 11th
The Wine Snob - November 18th
Long distance relationships - November 25th
They are all available on the Financial Times website, free of [...]
The latest Dear Economist letters are:
Auctioning a job interview - September 23rd
Choosing a new career - September 30th
How long should I wait to have a baby? - October 7th
Is money the root of all evil? - October 14th
Choosing baby names [...]
The latest Dear Economist column is about how to successfully extort money for withdrawing from a job interview, but I won't post it here because the FT is now posting my columns (both Undercover Economist and Dear Economist), free of charge. There is even an RSS feed, to which [...]
Dear Economist
A friend of mine was recently in Mumbai where many pirated books from the west were on sale on the street. Along with Harry Potter, there was The Undercover Economist, priced at 3.95 rupees.
It was clearly a counterfeit - it is printed on inferior paper [...]
Dear Economist,
From time to time I find myself eating a meal with an unlimited supply of food: sometimes an all-you-can-eat buffet, sometimes a more sophisticated meal laid on by a friend or someone trying to impress: weddings, banquets, that kind of thing. I like food but there are [...]
My young children, aged five and eight, are driving me insane. I try to discipline them, but they can be so wilful. At times I lose my temper and spank them. Is this wrong?
What else can I try?
Yours,
Gill Harnsley, Chelsea
Dear Ms [...]
Dear Economist,
I am 72 and about to prepare my will. Knowing that some of my daughters have married well, and the other will probably remain single (and therefore be financially disadvantaged in comparison), there seems to be a moral justification to be more generous to the latter. Observing [...]
Dear Economist,
When I go to a restaurant a dish that costs more to make - perhaps lobster or the product of an expensive chef’s imagination - costs more to purchase. The same is true when I go to a clothes store.
However, when I go to see [...]
Few readers of this site will need convincing, but here is a short video interview with the BBC in which I talk about the new show, "Trust Me, I'm an Economist" and argue the case for the economics of everyday life.
[...]Dear Economist
I notice that your book, The Undercover Economist, has a list price of £17.99. In it you emphasise that rationality and calculation underlie economic behaviour. If so, why do so many prices end in .99? Do consumers really think that £17.99 is only £17?
Daniella Acker, [...]
Dear Economist,
It was my birthday recently and I made some resolutions: to slim for the beach, read more serious novels, save money and quit smoking. I am doing OK on the cigarettes so far but I am already back to watching Big Brother and I have put on [...]
Dear Economist,
During the World Cup, I was struck that everyone I know prefers the BBC’s football coverage to ITV’s, because the BBC carries no commercials. Yet ITV continues to win the rights to cover international matches. Assuming this is the majority view, is it a market failure that [...]
Dear Economist,
I am being divorced. Since I will have less disposable income - due to higher living costs plus alimony - and since I want to stay married, must I conclude that I will be permanently worse off?
Gerard Nichols
Maastricht, Holland
Dear Gerard,
[...]
Dear Economist,
How do you turn “f*** all” into “something”?
Tim Renshaw, painter, West Norwood
Dear Tim,
I am sure this is not a purely abstract question. You believe that you have no valuable assets and you would like to accumulate some. That is natural enough.
[...]
Dear Economist,
I have a two-year-old daughter. I am thinking of making contributions into her tax-free “Child Trust Fund” accounts to help with university fees or a deposit on her first home. The trouble is that under the rules of the scheme, the money becomes my daughter’s on her [...]
Dear Economist,
I live in a strange European Union country where one of our members of parliament declared his wife, who is a housewife, an economic asset in the wealth statement required by parliament. Was he right to do so? Was he fair towards his wife, who is also [...]
Dear Economist,
My bicycle was recently stolen - the third one I’ve lost. Realising that the chance of recovering it was slim to none, I decided to sell my bike in its stolen state.
I knew the only way to find the cycle’s true value was with an [...]
Dear Economist,
Why do most of us iron our clothes, when we are untidy in so many other ways?
Judith Oliver, Singapore
Dear Judith,
There is an obvious difference between an immaculate shirt and an immaculate sitting room: you get to enjoy the aesthetic benefits of tidying your [...]
Dear Economist,
Your FT colleague Tyler Brule extols the virtues of business class-only airlines. But isn’t everything relative? Will I feel special if first class is standard class?
Dr Rupert Marshall, Gothenburg
Dear Dr Marshall,
It is true that many people seem to have a [...]
Dear Economist,
I have read in the pages of the FT that copper prices are now so high that copper coins are worth more as copper than as coins. Should I be breaking open the savings jar and melting down its contents?
Morris Kelvin, Aberdeen
Dear [...]
Dear Economist,
For the last few years I have lived in the US and have noticed there are quite a few girls, aged between 10 and 20, named Chelsea; yet few, if any, named Arsenal or Tottenham - but they must have been born when the latter two clubs [...]
