Why Drive an Hour to Buy a Handbag?
From October 1, Los Angeles charges 10.25% sales tax and Irvine charges 7.75%. The legal saving on a luxury purchase may be zero. The shopping still moves.
Zesht principle
People respond to incentives
If you change the cost or reward attached to an action, people change their behavior. Sometimes that is the whole point of the policy. Sometimes it is the unintended consequence. Zesht looks for both.
California Cut What It Pays for Rooftop Solar. Did It Fix the Right Problem?
Under NEM 3.0, an exported kilowatt-hour can earn a fraction of a cent at spring noon and over a dollar on an August evening. That's a price telling the truth. Is the rest of the bill?
Rent Control Can Make a Cheap Apartment Too Expensive to Leave
Rent control reliably helps the tenant who already has the apartment. The best evidence shows who pays for that help: the landlord who exits and the renter still searching.
Is Your California House Actually in a Fire Zone?
California's fire map shows hazard. Your insurer prices risk. They aren't the same thing — and the difference is where a homeowner's money is made or lost.
Why Do Iranians Keep Finding Each Other?
A Persian grocery, then a kebab restaurant, then six real-estate agents. Behind the joke is one of economics' most powerful forces: network effects.
The rest of the framework