Author: Mariah Wheeler

OGDEN, Utah – Laws banning price gouging aim to prevent exorbitant prices and increase access to critical goods during states of emergency, but newly published research from Weber State University’s Goddard School of Business & Economics suggests that these laws likely cause shortages, undermining some of their own goals. Published online early this week in the Journal of Private Enterprise, the research draws on publicly available internet search data from Google Trends. Titled “Anti-Gouging Laws, Shortages, and COVID-19: Insights From Consumer Searches,” the peer-reviewed article is co-authored by Gavin Roberts, assistant professor of economics at Weber State, and Rik Chakraborti, assistant professor of economics…

OGDEN, Utah – In my work life, I often deal with geospatial data. This data not only carries the customary sorts of attributes we see every day but also geographic attributes, like points, lines, enclosed areas, polygons, and surfaces. This data is typically projected from latitude, longitude, and sea-level-elevation data to other coordinate systems to facilitate analysis and viewing. One of the things I find odd about dealing with geospatial data is how much it is monetized and bound up in restrictive license agreements. If you search for “geospatial data” using your favorite search engine, you’ll probably see several pages…