Why Did I Buy All That – Yes, we want fries with that
Self-service technology, read through behavioural economics. Taylor opens with the University of Connecticut honesty-box study (even a sculpted head watching us boosts payment), then applies 'observed people are nicer people' to self-checkouts, where anonymity turns ordinary shoppers into Emmeline Taylor's 'SWIPERS'. The flip side is upselling: 61 per cent of customers spend more ordering via a McDonald's kiosk, because no human means no judgement. Amazon's retreat from till-
When crime doesn't pay
A bizarre London crime wave, thieves stealing car parcel shelves and reselling them on eBay, becomes a way into the economics of crime. Taylor sketches the Becker-style idea that criminals weigh proceeds against the costs of getting caught, then argues the numbers here do not add up: smashing a windscreen is conspicuous, the shelves are bulky and hard to store, and you do not strictly need one anyway. Useful for rational choice, cost-benefit analysis and thin resale markets,
Are you secretly predicting a recession?
TikTok's 'recession indicators' (frozen pizza, instant noodles, expensive lipstick, Labubus, gold) get a properly economic once-over. Taylor explains the logic behind each, hunkering down rather than simply cutting back, then does something valuable for students: she pulls the indicators apart, noting the evidence is mixed, that they cannot say when a recession will hit, and that they missed shocks like Covid. The skirt-length, skyscraper and men's-underpants indices add colo