The Rise and Fall of Congestion Pricing in New York

The Undercover Economist will help you think like an economist without boring you with endless graphs or complex math. By thinking like an economist, you’ll use principles like scarcity, price targeting, the stock market, and game theory to make better decisions every day. By understanding these economic principles, you’ll learn how economics operates in everyday life, why you make the economic decisions that you do, and what happens when these principles break down.

The world’s urban population is increasing rapidly, especially in the developing world. Our existing cities are already rising to meet the challenges of climate change, transportation, technology integration, and space constraints. The proposed solutions to future urban challenges include revegetation, wind gardens, green rooftops, cable cars, smart traffic lights, and underground developments. While these solutions might work in developed countries, they’re unlikely to be enough to sustain cities in developing countries.

Surge pricing, also known as dynamic pricing, is spreading across US industries—from flights and rideshares to restaurants, retail, and entertainment. Surge pricing helps companies maximize profit, balance supply and demand, and cope with rising costs, but it's also criticized for exploiting consumers, harming lower-income buyers, and eroding customers’ trust.

Before the White House and The Apprentice, Donald Trump was a real estate mogul whose large-scale projects made him one of the most well-known developers in New York City.

In this autobiography, Trump recounts his early life and career—from building low- and middle-income housing with his father in NYC’s outer boroughs to erecting luxury apartments in Manhattan. Trump outlines the eleven principles that guide his business decisions, and how they played out in the deals that defined his early career, including projects such as Trump Tower in New York, his first casino ventures in Atlantic City, and his gamble on the United States Football League.

The world’s urban population is increasing rapidly, especially in the developing world. Our existing cities are already rising to meet the challenges of climate change, transportation, technology integration, and space constraints. The proposed solutions to future urban challenges include revegetation, wind gardens, green rooftops, cable cars, smart traffic lights, and underground developments. While these solutions might work in developed countries, they’re unlikely to be enough to sustain cities in developing countries.

Drip pricing is a deceptive business practice that imposes billions in annual unexpected costs on consumers by advertising a low price, then adding hidden fees at final payment. US federal agencies are exploring regulatory action against drip pricing as part of the Biden Administration's economic agenda, though the success of these measures remains to be seen.

Before the White House and The Apprentice, Donald Trump was a real estate mogul whose large-scale projects made him one of the most well-known developers in New York City.

In this autobiography, Trump recounts his early life and career—from building low- and middle-income housing with his father in NYC’s outer boroughs to erecting luxury apartments in Manhattan. Trump outlines the eleven principles that guide his business decisions, and how they played out in the deals that defined his early career, including projects such as Trump Tower in New York, his first casino ventures in Atlantic City, and his gamble on the United States Football League.

Curious about how Uber and Airbnb grew from seedlings to internet juggernauts?

The Upstarts covers the history of Uber and Airbnb, from their founding in 2008 to present day of 2016. Learn how each company started as just a side project, gathered momentum, and grew exponentially throughout the world. Learn how neither Uber nor Airbnb was the first idea of its kind, but through strategy and will, they came to dominate. Also learn how Uber and Airbnb attracted the ire of government, incumbents, the collaterally damaged, and its own customers.

According to progressive media and politicians, climate change constitutes an existential threat to humanity, requiring drastic cuts in carbon dioxide emissions to avoid catastrophe. However, Bjorn Lomborg argues that, while climate change poses a significant threat, it’s not cataclysmic.

In his 2020 book, False Alarm, Lomborg concedes that climate change will have a notable impact if left unchecked. However, he argues that climate activists’ proposed approaches, like sharply reducing fossil fuel consumption, have unintended economic costs that must be balanced with the effects of climate change alone. Instead, Lomborg outlines several more modest recommendations that, he claims, represent the best approach to climate change.

In this guide, we’ll discuss Lomborg’s arguments about the impact of climate change, along with his assessments of unsuccessful approaches to climate change and his suggestions for alternatives. We’ll also examine counterarguments from climate scientists and discuss some real-world implications of Lomborg’s arguments.

Widely acclaimed upon its publication in 2017, The Color of Law demonstrates that racial residential segregation—the fact that some neighborhoods are almost exclusively African American while others are almost exclusively white—is the result of explicit government policy rather than personal choice and random chance. From the conclusion of the Civil War through to the present day, federal, state, and local governments have enacted laws to confine African Americans to particular areas and prevent them from moving into others. These policies have had a profound and lasting impact on African Americans, affecting their educational and job opportunities, economic well-being, and physical health.

Have you ever wondered how the economy works - how millions of individuals can buy and sell goods and services without a master coordinator? Have you wondered why we use money, rather than bartering our services with each other? Why do some nations prosper, while others stay poor despite vast natural resources?

Basic Economics by Stanford economist Thomas Sowell is an incredibly useful, broad introduction to economics. Containing no math, it instead communicates intuitive principles that will help you understand how market transactions work and the effect of policies on the economy. Understand how prices for goods are set, why rent control has bad side effects, and the purpose of brand names.

Have you noticed a shift in American politics throughout your lifetime? Over the past four decades, ideas like libertarianism and free market capitalism have gone from fringe beliefs held mostly by the elite to ideas with significant popular support and impact on our political sphere. In Dark Money, award-winning journalist and author Jane Mayer explores how a small group of extremely wealthy individuals, led largely by Charles and David Koch, have effectively legitimized far-right beliefs in America using their massive wealth.

In our guide, we’ll look at how the Kochs developed their political beliefs, the tactics they used to create their political movement, and how those tactics have affected American society and politics over recent decades. We’ll also examine the historical, social, and political contexts of the book’s events and how they have impacted society today.

The Biden administration has temporarily suspended approval of natural gas exports to non-free trade agreement countries as part of its ongoing effort to balance energy production with aggressive climate change goals. As Democrats prepare for the 2024 presidential election, they must balance the economic benefits of increasing natural gas exports with fulfilling climate change pledges.

Border state governors are busing thousands of immigrants to northern cities to pressure the Biden administration to stop a surge of border crossings. Critics call the gambit cruel and inhumane. But neither side has a plan to fix the underlying problem.

Have you ever wondered how the economy works - how millions of individuals can buy and sell goods and services without a master coordinator? Have you wondered why we use money, rather than bartering our services with each other? Why do some nations prosper, while others stay poor despite vast natural resources?

Basic Economics by Stanford economist Thomas Sowell is an incredibly useful, broad introduction to economics. Containing no math, it instead communicates intuitive principles that will help you understand how market transactions work and the effect of policies on the economy. Understand how prices for goods are set, why rent control has bad side effects, and the purpose of brand names.