The Economics of Everyday Things

Grab a simple bouquet from your local grocery store and you're activating a global network... more

Shoe repair shops are a dying breed — but for those that remain, demand is higher than eve... more

The market for gustatory pain is surprisingly competitive. Zachary Crockett feels the burn... more

How much does it cost to design and build a mini-golf course? And what’s it like to run on... more

How do flavorists capture the essence of a fruit and put it in a can of sparkling water, o... more

A day on the job includes hundreds of quarters, giant balls of lint, and fishing weird stu... more

Running a campground isn’t all eating s'mores around the campfire. Zachary Crockett fans t... more

When gas prices skyrocket, do station owners get a windfall? And where do their profits re... more

Every year, thousands of products are recalled from store shelves. How does the process wo... more

In a sport that generates more than $3.5 billion a year, teams compete in cars that cost $... more

The world’s oldest advertising medium has reconfigured itself for the digital age. Zachary... more

Some singles choose to skip the apps and get fixed up the old-fashioned way — but it doesn... more

They have thousands of congregants and millions of dollars in income. Zachary Crockett pas... more

Pure maple syrup can be five times as expensive as “pancake syrup,” but maple farmers — an... more

Why did it take so long to invent a longer-lasting bulb? Zachary Crockett finds the answer... more

How do courts interpret those little icons on your phone? Zachary Crockett brings down the... more

How do you turn an empty house into a buyer’s dream home? Zachary Crockett pulls back the ... more

They expose fraud, catch cheating spouses, and track down missing assets — but they don’t ... more

There are now nearly 12,000 satellites orbiting Earth. What does it cost to put them there... more

How does a museum place a value on a priceless work of art? And how much does it cost to k... more