As the most widely observed cultural holiday in the world, Christmas produces many things—joy, happiness, gratitude, reverence. And numbers. Lots of peculiar, often large, numbers. Here are a few to contemplate this season: $50.82– Average amount U.S. consumers spent on real Christmas trees in 2015. $69.38– Average amount U.S. consumers spent on fake Christmas trees in 2015. 33,000,000 – Number of real Christmas trees sold in the U.S. each year. 9,500,000 – Number of fake Christmas trees sold each year....

Upon it’s initial release in 1946, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life was something of a financial flop,failing to reach the break-even point of $6.3 million. Although it was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, it wasn’t until subsequent decades that it became recognized as one of the greatest Christmas films ever made.* The movie is long overdue for another reappraisal, for it’s also one of the best films ever created about economics and financial services. In a...

This past Saturday, Pope Francis celebrated his 80th birthday and in an opinion piece for The Detroit News on the same day Acton Director of Research Samuel Gregg expressed his primary criticism of the Holy Father. Gregg thinks that “rather than presenting the Catholic faith in all its fullness as the source of truth and true happiness, he focuses almost exclusively on the theme of mercy.” Gregg explains himself: Mercy is certainly central to the Christian Gospel. As a priest...

Note: This is post #14 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. What’s the difference between a wage subsidy and a minimum wage? What is the cost of a wage subsidy to taxpayers? Economist Alex Tabarrok looks at the earned e tax credit and how it affects low-skilled workers. (If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d mend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You can adjust the speed at which the video...

[Note: This is the second post in a series highlighting some of the financial aspects and broad economic lessons of Frank Capra’s holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. You can find part one here.] George’s Life Savings in a Life Insurance Policy George attempts to secure a loan from Potter based on his life insurance policy. He says it has a $15,000 face value and a $500 cash value. Why is his life insurance policy worth cash? George has atype...

Trusting strangers not only makes our lives easier, it makes our country more prosperous. As economist Tim Hartford says, “One of the underrated achievements of the modern world has been to develop ways to extend the circle of trust by depersonalising it.” How do we create and extend these “circles of trust”? In this video,Dan Ariely, aprofessor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, talks about the basic elements of trust and how to build trust. ...

[Note: This is the finalpost in a series highlighting some of the financial aspects and broad economic lessons of Frank Capra’s holiday classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. You can find part one hereand part two here.] Economist Don Boudreaux recently outlined ten foundational lessons that should be learned in every well-taught principles of economics course. Examples of nearly all of the ten lessons can be found in Capra’s Christmas classic, but for the sake of brevity I’ll merely highlight two...

Now that conservative Christians are something of a favored group by the executive branch of the US government again after a two-term hiatus, it’s time for many to dust off those old memes regarding the theocratic tendencies of the Christian Right. To wit, Julie Ingersoll throws some Reconstructionist shade at Betsy DeVos: “Opposition to public education for the religious right is rooted in a worldview in which education is solely the responsibility of families (and explicitly not the civil government),...

Most consumers have heard of fair-trade coffee, but have no idea how fair-trade actually works. In this video, economist Victor Claarcovers the basics of the fair-trade model, and explores whether fair trade can deliver on its promises to help the poor. Fair trade can also be used to vividly illustrate many key concepts in a principles of micro class, note s Claar, such as price elasticity and monopoly power. ...

During the holiday shopping season the media inevitably talks about consumer spending, and how it is vital to economic growth and job creation. But if people are buying more that means that are saving less. Does that mean saving is bad for the economy? Can we really spend our way to prosperity? ...