Money & Markets
I want to carpe diem and travel the world—but should I be saving my money instead?Dear Emily,
Updated July 20, 20224 min read
Dear Emily,
Dear Emily,
Dear Emily,
Dear Emily,
US president Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that he would consider using a 20% tax on imports from Mexico in order to generate funds to build a wall. To Trump’s supporters, this plan may sound great: Mexico’s exports will be taxed! They’ll pay for the wall in the end! And it’s true that this really would disadvantage Mexico relative to the US, which could be good for some American manufacturing jobs.
Dear Emily,
As an economics major, I don’t believe in tipping. (It’s discriminatory! It doesn’t actually incentivize good service!) I don’t want to support a system I don’t believe in, so when I go out to eat, I would prefer not to tip at all. But my girlfriend says that by going out to eat at a restaurant, I’m essentially agreeing to their terms–which means forking over cash. Am I justified in refusing to tip on ethical grounds?
What guidelines do you have about how much to spend on a wedding gift in general?
Dear Emily,
Dear Emily,
Dear Emily,
Dear Emily,
1) I’ve lived 3,000 miles away from my childhood home for many years. I have a great group of friends in the city where I live now, but as we all get older it seems increasingly hard to keep in touch. Meanwhile, my friends from home and I end up seeing each other very infrequently.
Life is full of complicated questions. Economics has answers. Our new advice columnist Emily Oster is here to help you tackle the big and small dilemmas of everyday life, drawing on the powers of social science, clear-eyed logic, and common sense. In her first installment for Quartz, Emily takes on a topic many of us are thinking about in the first days of the new year: priorities.