Who Will Care About the Starbucks Price Hike?

When coffee drinkers hear that some prices at Starbucks will rise, their response will depend how how elastic their demand is.

Throwback Thursday: Remembering When We Were More Productive

On this #TBT, we can look back at the golden age of productivity growth to see when and how our standard of living improved.

The Economics of a Smile

In a list of smiling societies, the U.S. could be close to the top for a surprising reason that relates to immigration and diversity.

The Case of the Hot Fajita

Shown by fast food lawsuits, corporate limited liability is one reason big businesses are corporations rather than proprietorships and partnerships.

Why Ronald McRobot Will Soon Serve Us

A minimum wage hike causes labor intensive fast food restaurants to exit the market, capital intensive restaurants to enter and the number of jobs to drop.

How McDonald’s Creates Choice Fatigue

Default or shortcut options become more attractive when decision making takes too much energy because of choice fatigue.

Why Shake Shack is About More Than a Burger

Displaying the characteristics of monopolistic competition, Shake Shack is showing how the U.S. burger market is adjusting to a changing consumer.

Fries and Chips: Potato Stories

When firms use research and development (R&D) for french fries and potato chips they create a springboard that Harvard’s Clayton Christensen explains.

Do You Prefer McDonald's or Starbucks?

Shaped by monopolistic competition, the behavior of McDonald’s and Starbucks attracts different groups of consumers.

Starbucks Drive-Through Economics

My new Starbucks has a drive-through. If you look at a high shelf near the window through which the baristas hand the coffee and food to drivers, you see a screen with little cars and numbers. Changing from green to yellow…