Animal Banking
I wanted to take a break from sending articles about coronavirus economics. I’m feeling inundated with them. But I couldn’t think of anything non-coronavirus I had read this week.
But then I remembered this gem! I do not nor have I ever played Animal Crossing. But apparently there’s a central bank that sets interest rates. And a week ago the bank cut those rates significantly. From what you remember about monetary policy, is this expansionary policy or contractionary policy? What kind of investments will players now make, riskier or safer? The article talks all about it! Fun to see how important monetary policy is even in a video game.
Trolls: Rockefeller Tour
Remember when the Pennsylvania Railroad Company acquired its own refinery to try and leave the railroad cartel? What did Rockefeller do? He went to war against them to make sure they returned. We’re seeing a similar thing happen today!
When Universal released Trolls online, it was unclear how it would perform. Now that Universal has proven it was successful, theaters have announced they will no longer carry Universal movies. I’m not sure if we can quite call theaters a cartel, but there are only a few chains and each one has significant market power. And Universal threatened that market power by releasing a movie online. I’m interested to see how the battle evolves.
Families in Developing Countries
Last week’s video spoke to how families in developing countries allocate resources in the home. I’m continuing that theme this week and asking whether it matters whether income comes from the man or the woman. It turns out there’s a really interesting answer with yams.