March 22, 2026
Looking at working hours historically and now, we see what differentiates how much time we spend on the job.
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- Chicago's parking meter mistakes
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- childcare deserts
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- China
- China and U.S. debt
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- Chipotle's Autocado
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- chocolate prices
- Chongqing
- Christine and David Romer
- Christmas economics
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- Christopher Nolan
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- Croatia World Cup bronze 2022
- crude oil prices
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- cupcake bubble
- CUSMA (Canada United States Mexico Agreement)
- cutting emissions
- Daniel Hamermesh
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- Daniel Pink
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- deadweight loss of gifts.
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- emerging markets
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- Emily Peck articles
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- everyday spending
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- factors of production
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- figure skating music
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- food spending on dining out
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- Ford's product placement
- foreign holders of U.S. debt
- fossil auctions
- France's high tobacco tax
- French baguette competition
- French lunch break
- friction
- Friday's e-links
- friendly nation trade
- fuel economy vehicles
- fuel price increases
- gains from migration
- game theory
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- gas prices fall like a feather
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- gasoline price impact
- gasoline prices
- gasoline prices and car purchases
- gasoline taxes
- Gatorade
- GDP
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- GDP related work
- German potato glut
- gift giving
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- gifts
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- Girl Scout Cookie economics
- global conflicts
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- global shipping chokepoints
- global supply chains
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- global wealth
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- GLP-1 weight loss drugs
- good mystary
- Goodles
- government redistribution
- grade inflation
- grade inflation impact
- grape glut
- Great Depression
- Great Depression interest rate caps
- Greek statistics
- grid stress
- grocery shopping
- Groundwork Collaborative
- growing corn
- Gus the T. rex
- Gus the tyrannosaurus rex
- gym memberships
- H.B. Reese
- Harry Styles hotel rates
- Harry Styles inflation impact
- Harvard grade inflation
- Harvard's grade inflation
- Harvard's grade inflation solution
- Hasbro
- HBM (high-bandwidth memory)
- health insurance
- healthcare immigrant workers
- healthcare labor force
- Heather Haddon
- herd mentality
- Hershey
- high healthcare costs
- high speed trading
- high wage cities
- highway funding
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- highway noise
- Highway Trust Fund
- hire rate
- history of hydration
- holiday economics
- holiday quiz
- holiday spending
- Holiday Top Ten List
- holiday travel
- Homer Simpson
- Honeycrisp brand value
- Horowitz and Hawthorne
- hospital costs
- hostile takeover
- hot sauce trend
- household asset allocation
- household net worth
- human capital
- humanoid robots
- Hurricane Katrina
- Hurricane Sandy
- hybrid vehicles
- Hyundai Motor
- IBM
- IEEPA (the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977)
- IHOP
- Ikea's innovations
- Imagining a Trillion
- IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond
- IMAX scarcity
- IMAX supply and demand
- IMF "World Economic Outlook"
- IMF economic projections
- immigration
- import costs
- In-N-Out Burger
- inaccurate GDP statistics
- incentives
- income districution
- income inequality
- index fund
- India's census
- India's Diet Coke shortage
- India's economic development
- India's noisy cities
- India's oil imports
- India's scrap aluminum importts
- India's Unique Identification numbers
- inflatable chairs
- inflation
- inflation expectation
- inflation history
- inflation policies
- inflation rates
- information architecture
- information infrastructure
- information recommendations
- infrastructure
- innovation
- Instacart
- insufficient power generation
- intellectual property rights
- interest rate history
- international trade volume
- interstate migration
- investing advice
- investing primer
- investing returns
- investors' mistakes
- Iowa City's free buses
- Iran attack
- Iran war
- Iran war externalities
- Iran War impact
- Iran War impact on farmers
- Ireland's cigarette tax
- irrational fear
- Isaac Singer
- Jack Bogle
- Jamaica
- James Hemings
- James M. Buchanan
- James Surowiecki
- January 25th snowstorm
- Japan's aging population
- Japan's expensive melons
- Japan's robots
- Japanese cereal boxes
- Japanese potato chips
- Jeremy Siegel
- Jersey Mike's
- Jersey Mike's history
- Jersey Mike's IPO
- jet fuel bills
- job dissatisfaction
- job markets
- jobs no one wants
- Joel Waldfogel
- Joey Chestnut
- John D. Rockefeller
- John Deere
- John Grisham
- John Harrison
- John Law
- John Locke
- John Nash
- JOLTS
- Jon Stewart
- Joseph Schumpeter
- JPMorganChase well-being initiative
- judging yourself
- July 4th
- Just Ask Jenna
- just below pricing
- Justin Wolfers
- Justin Wolfers media initiative
- K-shaped economy
- Kalshi
- Karex condom company
- Ken Burns
- Ken Griffin
- kichwa
- Kitchen Table Project
- Klamath River dams
- Klear Vu Corporation
- knockoffs
- Kraft Mac-and-Cheese
- Kwanza
- labor markets
- Lael Brainard
- land labor and capital
- land labor capital
- language policy
- late night tips
- latex
- laundry detergent innovation
- law of demand
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Lay's Potato Chips
- Learning Resources v. Trump
- left digit bias
- leftward drift
- LendingTree
- letters describing economic activity
- Liam
- liberating women
- libertarian paternalism
- Liberty Street Blog
- lighting
- liquefied natural gas (LNG)
- Liz Fosslien
- LNG cliff
- longitude history
- looking back at Jerome Powell's policies
- losers' sadness
- loss aversion
- low hire; low fire
- Luxembourg
- luxury economics
- mac and cheese history
- mac-and-cheese competition
- mandating a single language
- mandatory spending
- marginal analysis
- maritime chronometer
- Mark Zuckerberg
- market failure
- markets
- mass transit
- Mayor Mamdani's new jackets
- McDonald's
- McDonald's $1 meal
- McDonald's and Coke connection
- McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski
- McDonald's history
- McDonald's McRib
- mean grade inflation
- meaning of baby names
- meat economics
- meat history
- Medicare
- mental accounting
- Meta
- Mexico
- Michael B. Jordan
- microsoft
- Miki Sudo
- military synchronization
- millionaires
- minimum wage debate
- minimum wage hikes
- minimum wage impact
- Minion song rights
- misery index
- misleading correlations
- Mississippi Bubble
- MIT's four levels of ethical automation
- Mondelez
- monetary innovation
- monetary policy
- monopolistic competition
- Morgan Housel
- Morgan Stanley
- Moss & Fog
- Mounjaro
- movie theater distractions
- movie theater popcorn
- MSNOW's "The Best People" podcast
- mule mail delivery
- multi-million dollar dinosaurs
- murder mysteries
- N.J. Fair Price Protection Act
- N.Y. Post
- NACHO trade
- naphtha
- NASA's budget cuts
- NASA's toilet design
- Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest
- natural gas
- natural gas production and consumption
- NBA championship game 4 2026
- negative and positive externalities
- negative externalities
- Netflix
- neurological incentives
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey full service gasoline stations
- New Year's resolutions
- New York City Storm Planning
- New York's high tobacco tax
- Nicolle Wallace podcast
- nightlife cities
- nitrogen
- no such thing as free parking
- noise pollution
- noise pollution cost
- non-OECD oil demand
- NORAD Santa tracker
- North American free trade
- North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
- Norway
- Novo Nordisk
- Nutella's Artemis II livestream
- Nvidia
- NY Knicks
- NY Times Daily podcast
- objects history of the U.S.
- Odd Lots podcast
- OECD oil demand
- OECD sick leave days
- OECD vacation days
- oil by byproducts
- oil markets
- oil prices
- oil shock inflation
- oil supply
- oil supply and demand
- oil supply chain
- oil supply disruption
- oligopoly
- olive oil prices
- Olivia
- Olympic figure Skaters
- Olympic ranking criteria
- Olympic winners
- one gas station's story
- online grocery shopping
- OPEC
- Open Claw
- opinions of extreme wealth
- opportunity cost
- orange juice
- Oregon full service gasoline stations
- Oscar winner wagers
- oversupply
- ownership
- Ozempic and Wegovy
- P&G (Proctor and Gamble)
- pandemic impact
- Paramount Skydance
- parking chairs
- passing grade inflation
- Patek Philippe watches
- pay transparency
- paying attention
- peanut butter popularity
- peanut butter prices
- Pebble Index 01
- Peltzman Effect
- Pentagon Pizza Index
- perfectly competitive market
- Perrier
- Persian Gulf luxury sales
- perverse incentives
- pheasant tradeoffs
- physical capital
- Pigouvian taxes
- Pittsburgh
- pizza demand
- pizza garbage pails
- Pizza Hut
- pizza supply
- planning fallacy
- Platypus Economics
- plunging egg prices
- pony beer cans
- popular baby names
- popular World Cup cities
- potato demand
- potato supply
- power of the market
- powering Amazon's data centers
- preference falsification
- Preferred Popcorn
- preparing Fifa referees
- President Richard Nixon's wage and price controls
- President Trump's FY2027 budget proposal
- price ceiling tradeoffs
- price elasticity of demand
- price floors
- price information
- price of an espresso
- price of crude
- price of gasoline
- price of oil
- pricing basketball tickets
- pricing power
- pricing tariff refunds
- prisoners' dilemma
- private and social return
- private aviation
- probability neglect
- processed cheese
- product placement
- productive economic sectors
- productivity
- property rights
- psychology of cash
- psychology of money
- public choice theory
- Qatar
- quits rate
- railroad time
- ranking criteria
- Ray Croc
- Ray Madoff
- real Christmas trees
- recent college graduates
- recycling incentives
- recycling infrastructure
- recycling programs
- Red Lobster
- Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
- Reese's Pieces
- reference point dependency
- reference points
- regressive taxes
- remembering memory
- remote work
- René Magritte
- reopening the Strait of Hormuz
- research and development (R&D)
- Restaurant of Mistaken Orders
- restaurant orders
- Reverie Roasters
- reviewers' inflation
- rising condom prices
- rising grocery prices
- risk aversion
- robot adoption
- ROI (Return On Investment)
- Ronald Coase
- Russ Roberts and Mike Munger
- Russia
- S&P 493
- S&P 500
- S&P 500 history
- salary jealous
- sale overspending
- salmon tradeoffs]
- salt spreaders
- San Francisco
- San Francisco's trash bins
- Santa's delivery schedule
- Santa's productivity
- Santa's wages
- Sausi Arabia
- scarcity
- scary situations
- Scoville pepper heat scale
- second place sadness
- secondhand markets
- Seinfeld
- self-driving cars
- self-service gasoline
- shark attacks
- Sheldon
- Sherman Anti-trust Act
- ship insurance
- shipping delays
- shrinkflation
- signaling
- silver medal paradox
- Simon Kuznets
- sin taxes
- Singer sewing machines
- six fact series
- six stories series
- Skrilla's "Doot Doot"
- sleep and productivity
- sleep time
- slowing pizza sales
- small inventions
- small manufacturers
- SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
- SNAP funding
- snapshot of the economy
- snow plows
- soaring grocery prices
- social security
- Social Security problems
- Social Security solutions
- Social Security spending
- Social Security tradeoffs
- Soren Kierkegaard
- sound impact on property values
- South Africa's electricity outages
- Southwest assigned seats
- sovereign debt ratings
- soybean prices
- spacecraft toilet history
- SpaceX IPO
- SpaceX revenue
- Spain's economy
- Spain's olive crop
- speedy delivery
- spontaneous order
- spurious correlations examples
- Square
- stablecoins
- Stan the T.Rex
- standard kilogram
- standardized weights and measures
- Starlink
- stasis employment
- state spending on food at home
- state tip averages
- steel tariff
- Steve Levitt
- Steven Dubner
- stock market bubbles
- stock market indicators
- stock market losers
- story of Vanguard
- Strait of Hormuz
- strawberry competition
- subjective ranking critera
- subprime
- sulfur squeeze
- sulfuric acid
- sunk costs
- Super Bowl absenteeism
- supermarket design
- supermarket pricing power
- supply and demand
- supply chain
- Supply of fun
- supply shock
- supply shocks
- Supreme Court tariff decision
- surveillance pricing
- Switzerland
- Switzerland v. Colombia
- Taco Bell ultramarathon race
- Taco Bell value menu
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Compay (TSMC)
- Takeru Kobayashi (Kobi)
- Tampa Florida
- TANSTAAFL (no free lunch)
- tariff exemptions
- tariff impact
- tariff refunds
- tariffs
- Taylor Swift
- Taylor Swift inflation impact
- Tesla Model Y
- the "gripper" chair cushions
- the Big Arch
- The Big Take Podcast
- the city effect
- the Cube Rule
- The Daily podcast
- The Decision Lab
- the Dow 30
- the game Monopoly
- The Great Crash
- the gripper
- The most popular states
- the Netherlands
- the power of the market
- the significance of 99 cents
- the superrich
- The Trolley Dilemma
- the U.S. budget
- The Wisdom of Crowds
- the world's longest escalator
- thinking at the margin
- third place joy
- Thomas Jefferson
- Thorstein Veblen
- Tide laundry detergent
- Tim Harford interview
- timekeeping history
- Timothée Chalamet
- tin can demand
- tin plate
- tipping
- toll roads
- tomato prices
- top 1%
- top S&P companies
- total factor productivity (TFP)
- total knee replacements
- toys
- trade friction
- trade wars
- tradeoffs
- traffic fatalities
- traffic flaggers
- tragedy of the commons
- transaction costs
- transportation infrastructure
- Trevor Noah
- triple whammy
- Trump FY 2027 budget proposal
- Trump tariff impact on farmers
- Trump tariff policies
- Trump tariffs
- U-4
- U.S. China trade
- U.S. debt
- U.S. economic growth
- U.S. Highway Trust Fund
- U.S. Postal Service (USPS)
- U.S. Space Force
- U.S. tax policy
- U.S. Treasury securities
- U.S. wine industry
- UBS Global Wealth Report 2025
- UBS Wealth Report
- Ulrike Malmendier
- UN's Beyond GDP
- understanding money
- unemployment
- UNESCO's Cultural Heritage
- unintended coinsequences
- unintended consequences
- United Parcel Service (UPS)
- United Van Lines migration study
- urea
- USDA
- useful economic ideas
- USMCA
- USPS finances
- vacation memories
- Valentine's cartoons
- variable pricing
- Veblen goods
- vehicle miles traveled (VMT)
- Venezuela attack
- Venezuela's economy
- Venezuelan hyperinflation
- Venezuelan oil production
- vessel bunching
- Vietnam coffee
- wage increases
- wages and salaries
- war insurance
- Warner Bros. Discovery
- water shortages
- wayfinders
- wealth concentration
- wealth inequality
- weekly
- weekly news roundup
- weekly roundup
- weight loss drugs
- weight loss wars
- Wendy's
- Wendy's CEO
- what ticket prices tell us
- Why we move
- William Baumol
- wine demand
- wine glut
- wine supply
- winners' happiness
- Wired article
- word of the year
- work from home (WFH)
- working hours
- working hours and lighting
- World Cup bronze winner
- World Cup hydration
- World Cup penalty shootout
- World Cup referees
- World Cup second place team
- World Cup team popularity
- World Cup ticket prices
- World Cup winner
- World Economic Outlook April 2026
- world energy production
- wrapping paper
- wristwatch history
- xkcd
- Yale grade inflation
- Yale Professor William Goetzmann
- yogurt stories
- yogurt wars
- Yubari crown melons
- Zepbound