Material Flow

Happy Returns (3/7/2002)

Returned merchandise that would have been scrapped or sold at big discounts are given a second life after being refurbished with cheap Mexican labor.

Keywords: consumer electronics goods, end-of-life cycle, labor cost, material flow, Mexico, NAFTA, no-questions-asked, phones, refurbishing, refurbishment, restocking fee, return policy, Super Bowl problem

Spent Guns (3/8/2001)

Recycling used guns could decrease the cost of replacing old guns for police departments, but only at the risk of increasing gun crimes by making used guns cheaper.

Keywords: criminals, externalities, externality, gun-crimes, private costs, recycling, replacement costs, social costs, used police guns