Author Archives: Susann Lees

If private sellers wish to do so, they can require that payment be made in the form of credit cards or checks. They are not required to accept cash. The Federal Reserve crisply explains the law in this FAQ (last updated June 17, 2011): Is it legal for a business in the United States toContinue reading “No, a Seller Doesn’t Have to Accept Cash”

Consider a policy of giving every American $1,000. The argument made in support of the policy is that poor people need money to buy necessities. If you point out that helping poor people does not require writing a check to everyone, the response is to accuse you of being someone who opposes helping poor people.Continue reading “When Invoking Poverty and Necessity is a Ruse”

All economists are at least somewhat familiar with the work of Tony Atkinson, who died a year ago on January 1, 2017. The Annual Review of Economics offers a tribute in “Tony Atkinson on Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy: The Work and Life of a Great Economist,” by Anthony Barnes Atkinson and Nicholas Stern (2017,Continue reading “NIcholas Stern Interviews Tony Atkinson: Poverty, Inequality, and the Economics Profession”

About 30% of undergraduate economics degrees given to US citizens and permanent residents go to women. Perhaps unsurprising, about 30% of the PhD degrees given to  US citizens and permanent residents go to women, too. A sizable literature has tried to spell out possible reasons for these patterns. Here, I will point out that theContinue reading “Gender Mix in AP Economics”

This blog is free in monetary terms. I don’t pay a fee to an internet company; readers don’t pay a fee to me.  The costs are mainly in terms of time: that is I spend time writing the blogs, and readers spend time looking them over. But while it’s comforting and even partially true toContinue reading “"If You’re Not Paying for It, You’re the Product"”

United States Attorney Paula D. Silsby announced today that Olumide Adeola Pidan, 30, a native of Nigeria, was sentenced to a total of 60 months in prison for convictions on one count of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. United States District Judge George Z. Singal imposed the sentence following Pidan’s guiltyContinue reading “Nigerian Man Sentenced to 60 Months for ID Theft Fraud”

A scammer, who boasted that consumers could earn a six-figure income if they purchased and used his $10,000 “asset protection service” business program, is banned for life from telemarketing and from selling any type of business program in the future. The Federal Trade Commission previously charged that the scam artist falsely claimed consumers would makeContinue reading “Repeat Offender Permanently Banned from Telemarketing, Selling Business Programs”