• Please read Handout 6 "Economic Naturalism". Come up with your own "Thinking like an economist" puzzle. As Robert Frank, a noted economist at Cornell, remarks, "Students should study economics to become "Economic Naturalists". For example, studying Biology enables people to observe and marvel at many details of life that would otherwise have escaped notice. For the naturalist, a walk in quiet woods becomes an adventure. In much the same way, studying microeconomics can enable students to see the mundane details of ordinary existence in a sharp new light." Your goal is to consider the questions in Handout6, and then use economic reasoning in an attempt to answer it. Think imaginatively about a problem or a question and use "micro economic concepts" to attempt and provide an answer.Be creative - think of the various questions posed by previous generations of students in Handout 6 and come up with an equally good teaser and possible explanation! I would to see a well expalained and detailed answer (about three pa ges)

Page 2 of 2 " Is Recycling always economical?" "The 99 cent Burger" " Why are daily newspapers still printed on broad-sheet pages?" "Why are the numbers on clock faces 'clockwise'?" "Pricing and Strategies of Cosmetics" "Why are street lights often on in the middle of the day when there is no obvious need for them" "Despite an average decline in church attendance, why is there such a fast growth in the number of churches in this country" "Armani and Versache: Game Theory in Real Life" "Why are milk cartons usually placed in aisles farthest away from the entrances in large grocery stores?" "Why do all TV sets have "closed caption" capabilities even though very few need it? " "Why does every person on a typical airline flight pay a different price?" 'Why do sandwiches cost differently the higher you go up the Eiffel Tower?" "Why is the price of 24 Budweiser beers in a bar so much more expensive than getting 24 beers in a convenience store? "Why do we keep getting new versions of Word and other packages instead of new programs?" "Pricing of Organic vs. Non-organic foods" "Is Daylight saving time an efficient method of saving energy or is it an archaic practice that brings more confusion and inconvenience than practical benefits?" " Why are we so enticed by "Sales" that we spend more than we would have anyway?" "Economics of mass gift giving on birthdays and other holidays' "Silent Trade and the Prisoner's Dilemma in West Africa' "Pricing of Buffalo Chicken wings at Mr. Up's" "Pricing of Tickets to and from Sydney, Australia, before, during and after the 2000 Games" Why does breakfast cereal cost $ 5 a box Economic reasons behind summer specials in the Fitness industry Why don't one-way fares cost half as much as round-trip fares? Pricing of lunch and dinner menu items at local area restaurants Why do well-established magazines "give away" for free the same copies on-line? Decrease in popularity causes increase in price - the peculiar case of on-line auctions of movies "All you can eat" Salad Bars and Buffets Why are balls given away in pro-baseball but not football or basketball? Why did the price of houses rise during Covid-19 Pandemic ? Del's Lemonade: The best kept secret in RI Microeconomic implications of Gentrification Verizon Wireless Gifting Apple Music to Customers Economics of Herd Mentality - Why Casinos place slot machines front and center Elasticity of Boston Public Transportation Fares Big 'Calculator': How Texas Instruments Monopolized Classrooms Across the US Behind the Success of EA's FIFA seriesPage 1 of 2 People face tradeoffs! The cost or value of something is what you give up to get it (Opportunity Costs); Many decisions are made at the "margin"(where expected or actual marginal benefits of a decision are greater than the corresponding incremental costs); "Sunk costs" should not affect marginal decision making; People respond to incentives; Markets are a good way to organize economic activity; the principle of Comparative Advantage. We used these principles to address some important economics questions facing society Impact of technology on growth; who do pro-athletes get paid millions compared to say high school teachers or nurses; why does comprehensive fee at private colleges/universities keep rising annually You also read the chapter "Why popcorn costs so much at the movies" that provides an entertaining analysis of how basic microeconomics explains the world in which we live. Part of the fun of studying microeconomics is akin to "putting on glasses" to "see" the world from the perspective of these economic principles. As Robert Frank, a noted economist at Cornell, remarks, Students should study economics to become "Economic Naturalists". For example, studying Biology enables people to observe and marvel at many details of life that would otherwise have escaped notice. For the naturalist, a walk in quiet woods becomes an adventure. In much the same way, studying microeconomics can enable students to see the mundane details of ordinary existence in a sharp new light. Your goal is to consider the questions given below and then use economic reasoning in an attempt to answer it (in your head)!. These questions are not meant to be 'substantive' in the same sense of some of the aforementioned questions, but these phenomena are all around us....Also, there might be cultural, political, legal reasons for some of these queries but your challenge is to find the 'economic' angle to these problems ! a) Why do kitchens in modern American homes often occupy more than 30 % of the ground floor area, compared to less than half that percentage in homes built near the turn of the 19th/and 20th century ? b ) Why do they put Braille dots on the keypads of drive-through ATM machines? ! c) Why do top female models earn so much more than top male models? d) Why do brides in this country spend so much money on their wedding gowns, while grooms seem to make do with relatively inexpensive (and oftentimes rented) tuxedos - this is despite the fact that men get lots of other opportunities in life to wear their tuxedos while women never wear their gowns again? e) Why do hardback books sometimes cost three times the price of paperback books even though the costs of production for the two types are practically the same ? F) Why does a cup of coffee in Japan cost close to $ 5? G) Should LeBron James mow his own lawn? Things that make you go "hmmmm!" (last few years' ECON 155 students' list of questions) "Why does it cost more to buy Produce in Manhattan than in the Bronx?"