Jadrian Wooten

Taking A Bite Out of the Competition Smucker’s is suing Trader Joe’s over a crustless PB&J sandwich. The lawsuit isn’t about peanut butter or jelly. It’s about how companies stay different in markets where everything looks the same.

Smucker's is suing Trader Joe's. Not for stealing a recipe, but for copying the shape of a crustless PB&J.

Behind the sandwich is a billion-dollar lesson in how firms protect their profits through differentiation.

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/uncrustables

Why Fired Coaches Still Get Paid Millions When college football coaches are fired, they often walk away with millions. Buyouts act as insurance for taking one of the riskiest jobs in sports, but they also create costly incentives for universi...

Getting fired usually means losing your paycheck. In college football, it can mean cashing in.

Here’s the economic logic behind multimillion-dollar buyouts and why universities keep paying coaches not to coach.

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/buyouts

One of my favorite courses in grad school! I still think about those topics all the time.

The Upside of a Bubble (Yes, Really) Artificial intelligence may be shaping up like a bubble, but history shows some bubbles can leave society better off.

AI stocks are booming, and some are warning that it looks like a bubble. Jeff Bezos agrees, but says this might be the rare kind of bubble that benefits society in the long run.

Here’s what makes an “industrial bubble” different than the others: www.mondayeconomist.com/p/ai-bubble

So, What (Economics Concepts) Can We See? Why are Lowe’s and Home Depot so often neighbors? With help from TikTok sleuth JoseMonkey, we looked at the actual data and found dozens of store pairs close enough to share a parking lot. Turns out, ...

You’ve probably seen it before: Lowe’s and Home Depot, sitting right next to each other. But why?

I asked @josemonkey.com to figure out how often these rivals cluster in real life. The answer may surprise you, but the explanation goes back nearly 100 years.

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/josemonkey

When Loss Aversion Flops Emmys host Nate Bargatze tried to use a classic behavioral economics trick to shorten speeches. Instead, the night ended with a negative balance and a lesson in why incentives need to feel real.

Nate Bargatze tried to shorten Emmy speeches with a $100,000 charity pledge that dropped $1,000 for every second winners went long.

If loss aversion works, it should have worked here. It didn’t.

Why the pot went negative: www.mondayeconomist.com/p/emmys-flop

What Your Venmo Behavior Says About You Do you round up or send the exact amount? That tiny decision reveals more about your brain, and your social habits, than you might think.

Someone buys you a coffee and texts: “Just Venmo me $7.58.” Do you round up or pay the exact amount?

That tiny decision says more about your brain (and your social instincts) than you might think.

Read the full piece: www.mondayeconomist.com/p/venmo

What Cardboard Can Tell Us About the State of the Economy A decline in cardboard box sales may serve as an early indicator of whether the U.S. might be headed for a recession

Economists watch many signals for signs of recession. One of the quirkiest? Cardboard boxes.

With producers cutting nearly 9% of capacity, the “cardboard box index” may be flashing a warning.

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/cardboard-...

How Texas Instruments Won Math Class Millions of students are back in the classroom. New notebooks, fresh pencils, maybe even a laptop upgrade. But for many, there’s also an old friend tagging along: the graphing calculator.

The TI-84 looks the same as it did in the early 2000s.
Casio and Desmos exist, so why do students still pay $100 for one?

The answer has less to do with features and more to do with economics.
www.mondayeconomist.com/p/graphing-c...

Why a Knitting Bean Might Help You Focus This Fall September is almost here, and with it comes the annual scramble to get life back on track as school gets back underway.

A knitting bean just beat Google and ChatGPT in the App Store. Focus Friend is the latest productivity app to catch fire, but the economics behind its success explain why it’s more than just cute.

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/focus-friend

Why Your Loan Balance Isn’t Going Down, Even When You’re Paying A Lot A viral crash out offers a chance to understand how student loans can grow faster than most borrowers expect, and what we can do to prevent it.

She borrowed $85K for college, made small payments while in school, and now pays $1,500/month. After two years of payments, she owes… $90K.

A viral crash out, a 17% interest rate, and a lesson in the math behind student loans.

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/student-lo...

Is the Gen Z Stare Hurting Their Job Prospects? Millennials had avacado toast. Gen Z has the stare.

What happens when a neutral expression in an interview is read as disinterest by the person hiring you?

This week’s Monday Morning Economist looks at the “Gen Z stare” through the lens of signaling theory.
www.mondayeconomist.com/p/gen-z-stare

What’s Going On With the Jobs Numbers? Revisions aren’t a sign of failure.

The BLS reported 73,000 new jobs in July. Hours later, the BLS commissioner was fired.

Trump accused her of manipulating the numbers, but data revisions happen every month. It's part of the process. So what makes this time different?

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/revisions

How 10 Seconds Became a Multi-Million Dollar Problem A small security ritual adds up to a big economic burden when repeated by millions.

Taking off your shoes at TSA took about 10 seconds. Multiply that by ~2 million travelers a day, and you have a multi-million dollar problem.

This week’s post explores what small inconvenience really costs us:
www.mondayeconomist.com/p/tsa-shoes

How Sandwiches Explain 100 Years of Economic Growth The simple sandwich can help explain how everyday life has changed over the last century

Would you rather eat a sandwich made from a 1920s recipe or one from your local deli today? 🥪

I teamed up with Sandwiches of History to explore how 100 years of economic growth changed the way we eat. Even your fridge tells a story of progress.

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/how-sandwi...

Why Are Americans Suddenly Saving Again? An economist’s honest (and annoying) answer would be: “It depends.”

Are Americans saving more because they feel good about their finances or because they’re scared?

This week, I teamed up with @yourbrainonmoney.bsky.social to answer that question. I tackled the economics, and she tackled the behavioral finance.

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/savings-rate

The Surprising Economics of Love Island It may look like just another reality dating show, but Love Island is also a live experiment in incentives, preferences, and strategic matchups. Here's what an economist sees when a new bombshell ente...

Tonight’s the #LoveIslandUSA finale, which means it’s the perfect time to bring this one back:
💔 Matching markets
🔄 Strategic recoupling
💵 The economics of love

(No need to love the show, just bring your inner economist.)

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/love-island

What Amazon Prime Day Can Teach Us About Economics A look at why Amazon's deep discounts are actually a high-priced strategy

Amazon’s not losing money on Prime Day. It’s using one of the oldest pricing strategies in economics: second-degree price discrimination.

This post explains why charging you to access discounts is smarter than it sounds.

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/what-amazo...

I’ve been writing Monday Morning Economist for five years, but I’m still eager to discover new writers, podcasters, and creators doing smart, engaging work around economics, teaching, or pop culture.

Who should I be reading or listening to?

Tag your favorites down below.

Competitive Eaters Experience Diminishing Returns, Too! Even without Joey Chestnut in this year's Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, diminishing returns will "ketchup" to all the eaters at some point in the contest.

Every July 4th, millions watch Joey Chestnut crush hot dogs during Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN.

But he’s not just a competitive eater! He’s also a great example of diminishing returns in action. Will it happen to him again this year?

www.mondayeconomist.com/p/competitiv...

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A Mid-Year Update from Monday Morning Economist New readers, classroom tools, and a look at what’s ahead.

Midyear check-in is live. What’s working and where this econ newsletter is headed next.

If you like newsletters, pop econ, or just watching someone figure it out in public, give it a read: www.mondayeconomist.com/p/2025-midyear

Bobby Bonilla has gotten a $1.2 million check every July 1 since 2011, but do you know why?

The same math that will help him earn $30 million instead of $6 million can help the rest of us earn more, too!

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Monday Morning Economist | Jadrian Wooten | Substack A free, weekly newsletter that makes economics easier to understand with insights from current events, pop culture, and teaching. Join thousands who start their week with smarter thinking. Click to re...

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How $5.9 Million Turns Into $30 Million Every summer on the first of July, baseball fans and finance nerds alike come together to celebrate one of the most interesting contracts in sports history.

Check it out: www.mondayeconomist.com/p/bobby-boni...

Bobby Bonilla has gotten a $1.2 million check every July 1 since 2011, but do you know why?

The same math that will help him earn $30 million instead of $6 million can help the rest of us earn more, too!

A new post drops tomorrow. Subscribe now: www.mondayeconomist.com

Jadrian | Monday Morning Economist Bookshop This shop features books I recommend in the Monday Morning Economist newsletter—including teaching resources, student-friendly reads, and general audience favorites. New posts every Monday. Subscribe ...

Looking for some econ-themed summer reads? I’ve created a curated Bookshop with econ reads for:
🧠 Econ-curious folks
🎒 Students
🧑‍🏫 Teachers
📖 Books I’ve taught in class
🗓️ Plus my annual favorites

Check it out here 👉 bookshop.org/shop/MondayE...