Desperate for a Wii

November 15, 2007 7:00 am

051215_eveco_xboxtn_2 The BBC reports that there will be a shortage of the much-loved Wii console this year. These stories bloom reliably every Christmas.
The economists’ question, of course, is why on earth Nintendo doesn’t raise the price until supply equals demand? There are obvious answers – which I am not sure are correct – and then there are less obvious ones.
The curious may wish to consult two articles I wrote about the XBox for Slate. XBox Part one and, replying to a vast number of reader responses, XBox Part two.

Posted in Everyday economics |
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Tim Harford’s blog

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Tim, also known as the Undercover Economist, writes about the economics of everyday life.

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