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Pricing Puzzles

popcorn.jpg
popcorn.jpg

Popcorn at the movies, a beer at the game, bottled water at the pool... what do these things have in common? They are often outrageously expensive....at least compared to buying them almost anywhere else. Yet, millions of people indulge in these pleasures of convenience regularly. In today's economy where penny pinching is becoming a national pastime, we'll take a look at the reasoning behind the shameless mark-ups and discuss what...if anything...consumers can do about it. What accounts for concert ticket prices and are "administrative fees" when purchasing a new car just another pricing gimmick? Pricing Puzzles, Wednesday at 9 on 90.3. Richard McKenzie, Walter B. Gerken Professor of Enterprise and Society, Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine & Author of Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies and Other Pricing Puzzles
Alice Simon, James Heisler Professor of Economics, Ohio Wesleyan University