Written by Virginia Baumgarten Every year, over 10 million international travelers, typically from North America and Europe, travel abroad to volunteer in impoverished communities (The Guardian, 2021). Students, youth groups, and other well-intended participants construct buildings, assist at orphanages, and pursue other short-term development projects in an effort to give back. Yet, to what extent…
Month: January 2022
The Economics of Supertall Buildings
Written by Oscar Soberg The Economics of Supertall Buildings Since the first skyscraper was erected in Chicago in 1884, it seems buildings have only gotten taller and more complex. These modern feats of engineering and design appear to defy nature as they soar up into the sky, and well beyond the clouds. Professionally named “supertall…
Saudi Arabia as an Indicator of International Energy Cooperation
Source: Unsplash Written by Holly Teeters The recent COP26 in Glasgow has turned international attention towards climate change mitigation and the promise of cooperation. While many were hopeful that Glasgow would enforce stricter policies to have a fighting chance at remaining under 1.5 degrees celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, various political interests have once again…
The Housing Conundrum: An Assessment of Korean Housing Policies
(An aerial view of an apartment cluster in Songpa District, Seoul, taken by Yonhap News) Written by Austin Moon Many Koreans remember a time when they would laugh at comedians joking about soul-crushing housing prices, poking fun at the South Korean government’s inability to deter its seemingly unstoppable upward trend. After five years, more than…
Pushing for More Payment Reform in Healthcare
Written by Kunal Sharma Healthcare economics is the intersection of the wide array of medical organizations that currently exist and the influx and outflux of capital through these bodies. Healthcare, especially in the United States, is notoriously expensive. Through social media, news outlets, and other media sources, we have seen heavy itemized bills from hospitals…
The Talibanization of the Opium Market
Photo Source: Politico Written by Hadin Sayed When Kabul fell to the Taliban, the international media relentlessly covered the implications of the Talibanization of Afghanistan. However, an overlooked aspect of the Taliban Resurgence is the effect on Afghanistan’s opium market, the largest in the world. Immediately after taking control of Afghanistan, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid proclaimed,…
Construction May Become Sustainable, Knock on Wood
Written by William Fitzpatrick Across Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, a peculiar trend is emerging in recent architectural projects: they are made almost entirely out of wood. But they’re not just any wooden buildings, they’re skyscrapers. In the past, most architectural advancements have been focused on design, but with the climate crisis looming closer by the…
Cities Should Not Pay For New Stadiums
Written by Rob Lucas A common trend among sports franchises is to demand brand new facilities, which are to be publicly funded. Teams will often threaten to leave their respective city trying to leverage new and expensive facilities in other places from their current cities. While many do this, it is rare to see a…
Why the Invisible Hand?
Written by Noah Rich “Households and firms interacting in markets act as if they are guided by an ‘invisible hand’ that leads them to desirable market outcomes” (Mankiw 9), so claim many modern introductory economics textbooks. However, do they? The invisible hand, as commonly defined by economists like Paul Krugman, is a metaphor describing the…
Debt vs. Diploma?
Written by Vignesh Swarnam The American Dream was one formed on the very foundations of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. The American Dream was a beacon for social mobilization and American progress. There were many “dominoes” that make up the American Dream from having a stellar education, being a homeowner, and retiring comfortably.…