To end the series, Walter needs to find a way to get his money to his son, but he knows that the federal government would confiscate the money if he does it himself. Instead, he seeks help from his former business associations, Elliot and Gretchen Schwartz. He asks them to launder the money through their business so that it appears to be a charitable donation. The Schwartz’s agree, but because he’ll die soon, Walter has no guarantee that they will actually go through with the donation.
Walter tells the Schwartz’s that he’s hired “the best hitmen” that he could find and that if the money is not donated to his son shortly after his son’s 18th birthday then Elliot and Gretchen will be assassinated. In order for such a threat to be credible, Walter hires Pete and Badger to stand outside the house and point laser pointers at the two of them to have them believe they were actually snipers. Walter’s persona leads to his credibility as well.
Back in the office of Saul Goodman, Walter and Jesse try to sort out some of their recent misunderstandings. In the process, Jesse finds out that Walter is soon to start producing methamphetamine without him and under the employment of their associate, Gus Fring. When Walter is asked about how much he stands to gain from this new partnership, he simply responds, “It is $3 million, for three months of my time.” Saul knows that this large amount of money needs to be laundered and immediately offers his services for a 15% fee. However, as a prospective customer for money-laundering services, Walter is well aware of his bargaining power and quickly counters Saul’s offer with a 5% fee. Saul attempts to negotiate a high-enough fee by sequentially proposing 14%, 13%, 12%, and 10% fees. In each scenario, Walter’s response is unchanged, “5%”. Single buyers, or monopsonists, have the market power to reduce the acquisition price, just as a monopolist has the market power to limit the quantity supplied and therefore increase market price to maximize profits.
This video clip is also instructive about the price elasticity of supply. More specifically, the video clip emphasizes Saul’s perfectly inelastic supply for money-laundering services over the observed range of prices (i.e., 5% to 15%). Despite the fact that the laundering fee (the price Saul receives) is adjusted from 15%, 14%, 13%, 12%, to 10%, and finally to 5%, Saul is still willing to supply his services. The negotiation between Walter and Saul also reveals some information about Saul’s “willingness to supply”, which seems to be somewhere under or at the 5% threshold. This is simply because even at 5%, Saul accepts the proposal.
Finally yet importantly, the dialogue between Jesse and Walter, located the end of the episode and included below, may be used to frame a discussion about contracts, contract enforcement, and the role of institutions in shaping the behavior of economic agents. Jesse: “You think that this will stop me from cooking?” Walter: “Cook whatever you like. As long as it’s that ridiculous Chili P or some other dreck … but don’t even think about using my formula.” Jesse: “Just try and stop me!” While Walter is indeed the one who discovered the formula for the “blue” methamphetamine, he might have a hard time preventing Jesse from using the same formula to produce a similar good. Had this formula involved any other legal product, such a dispute would have been prevented by the filing of a patent or by a contract regarding its use, both enforceable through a functioning judicial system. However, the use of institutions as a dispute-settling mechanism is not possible in this case – methamphetamine is an illegal good, produced and consumed within a black market. Consequently, violence and the use of force tend to replace institutions in solving such issues, a substitution that generates significant external costs to society.
This description comes from Duncan, Muchiri, and Paraschiv (Forthcoming)
After having the family car repaired at a local maintenance shop, Walt decides its time to get rid of it. He’s worried that his car is too easily recognized and offers to sell it to the shopkeeper for $50. While Walt Jr. finds this crazy, Walter is willing to get rid of it even if it’s well below what he could get somewhere else.
In addition to depicting the underground market for firearms, this clip is also useful to spark a discussion about gun control policies. Walter could purchase a gun legally since he doesn’t have a criminal record, but he’s willing to purchase an illegal one without a serial number.
The scene brings forward a discussion between Jesse and Walter. Their dialogue is centered on how their competitors choose to protect their turf and the shooting of their partner Combo, for which Jesse seeks revenge. The scenes within are particularly useful for discussing the importance of property rights delivered by a functioning legal system and the consequences brought about by the impossibility of enforcement, for instance, in the black markets for drugs. For example, when Combo sells “blue” methamphetamine in the competitors’ turf he ends up being killed by an 11- year old boy. The rival gang seizes and sells the “blue” methamphetamine, distributed by Combo and cooked by Walter and Jesse, as their own. Outside of black markets, courts or specialized branches of the police would have handled such disputes. However, when the rule of law and property rights are absent, vaguely defined, or not enforceable, agents resort to other means of enforcement such as violence, which breeds more violence – Jesse is obviously seeking revenge for Combo’s death.
The clip is also useful for illustrating the socio-economic costs and the unintended consequences of illegal drugs and the black markets that form in response. The loss of life and the use of children, often from poor neighborhoods and low-income families, as labor are obvious. A discussion about social mobility and human capital development may also originate within these scenes. In broad terms, children who end up dealing drugs and protecting turfs fail to accumulate the much-needed human capital, which should allow them to fare better than their parents. The scenes within may also be used to discuss how failure to accumulate human capital or make meaningful investments in tomorrow’s labor force diminishes a jurisdiction’s ability to produce goods and services, or, in other words, shifts that jurisdiction’s production possibility frontier inward.
This description comes from Duncan, Muchiri, and Paraschiv (Forthcoming)
Gus is set on controlling the market for meth in the Southwest. He has worked hard to eliminate the local drug cartel so that he can be the sole supplier. Being the only supplier of a product gives a firm market power to charge prices greater than marginal cost. While profit maximization still occurs where marginal cost equals marginal revenue, a firm with market power is able to charge a markup on top of the marginal cost. Further, the markup is inversely proportional with the price elasticity of demand coefficient (i.e. the more inelastic the demand, the higher the markup). As the number of substitutes (competitors) decreases, the demand for each firm becomes more inelastic, which, in turn allows the firm to charger higher prices.
There’s a fly in the facility and Walter doesn’t want to proceed until the fly is dealt with. Walter doesn’t want to contaminate the product in any way, but Jesse is confused because the customers don’t care about the quality of the product. If a small fly lands in the batch, Jesse believes it won’t be that big of a deal because the customers are highly inelastic. Jesse cites other examples of contamination in food (like hot dogs and candy bars) where people (and the government) don’t care about the quality.
Skyler starts doing the books for Walter’s drug income and is ready to learn how the money gets laundered. She doesn’t think Saul’s setup is legitimate enough to get past the IRS so she wants to talk to him directly. It turns out that Saul’s ideas seem ludicrous to her. One unintended consequence of policies that outlaw the production/distribution/consumption of drugs is the creation of money-laundering operations such as “Ice Station Zebra Associates”. Walter uses this “company” to launder the money he earns from manufacturing methamphetamine.
When employees have the ability to shirk or steal, firms may invest in monitoring devices to ensure against theft. In the lab, Walter supervises Jesse, but their employer monitors both Walter and Jesse as they work. Hypothetically the guard may be paid a handsome salary to disincentivize him from cheating his employer.
Walter and Skyler are in the market for a new house. Walter is attempting to maximize his utility by proposing to Skyler a larger house instead. In other words, Walter is trying to move onto a higher indifference curve. However, their limited budget represents a constraint to Walter’s utility maximization problem.
Hank is temporarily disabled and has been collecting rocks to pass the time. Walt Jr. and Hank are both impressed with a pink rock, which Walt goes on to describe why the rock gives it that color. This is a good example of a positive statement, which is a testable statement that has a right or wrong answer. It is not based on some value judgement (like the rock looking cool).
Walter tries operating the facility by himself and he’s struggling to move a barrel with Jesse gone. Normally, the two would work together to specialize in particular tasks to reach their intended goal. Having only one worker means that they aren’t able to gain from specialization.
In an attempt to get Walt Jr to like him again, Walter tries to buy him a used car. Recognizing that his dad is trying to purchase his approval, he convinces his dad to buy him a new sports car instead. This clip shows Walter’s willingness to pay for his son’s happiness.
Walter brings in the first batch of money for Skyler to launder, but she’s shocked by the amount coming in. Walter brings in $274,000 for her to get through the system, but she quickly realizes he’s earning millions of dollars each year, which is far more than what she can reasonable hide in a car wash. Both are frustrated because they have specialized in their own part of the operation and can’t control the other portions of the setup
Gus and his people leave the meeting at the hospital with Jesse and head back to their car in the parking garage. As they approach the car, Gus stops and begins to look around at the rooftops around the garage. Walter is on a nearby rooftop and hides as Gus stands right across from him waiting and thinking. He decides to abandon his car, as he fears it may be a trap.
Walter, Jesse, and Mike and splitting the proceeds from a new, methamphetamine-production business. The scene demonstrates how businesses incur various expenses while providing instructors and students with a lively example about the different cost types. Once Mike divided the revenue into three equal stacks, he goes on to do an accounting of all the costs they have incurred while producing their latest batch. One can observe that some the costs such as the ongoing expense with keeping former collaborators quiet are fixed, while others, such as the cut to the dealers or the fee for the drug mules (i.e., those who transport the methamphetamine from its production to distribution location) are variable. Actually seeing each pile of cash shrinks, as they account for the costs of the business, provides a visceral example about costs, profit, and the relationship between the two.
This clip may also serve as a catalyst for discussing, once again, the role of institutions in shaping the behavior of economic agents and the consequences brought about by their lack of reach into black markets such as that for methamphetamine. Walter is surprised to find out that the cost with the mules is 20% of the revenue. However, Mike adds that transporting the methamphetamine involves risks (i.e., of being robbed by a rival gang or being caught by the police and sent to jail) and the cost is justified – in economics jargon, such costs represent the compensating differential for hazardous work conditions. Outside black markets, a robbery is solved by simply reaching out to the police or other specialized authorities. In other words, property rights may be enforced through the judicial system. However, in the case of methamphetamine this is not possible. This way, those who move the drug must also guard it and enforce the property rights over it through violence. Hence, the steep cost of transportation that characterizes the methamphetamine-producing business.
This clip also provides a detailed account of various activities that form the underground economy and underpin the $1,392,800, methamphetamine business. For example, dealers receive $13,240, mules (the ones who transport the methamphetamine for distribution purposes) get a flat 20% (after the dealers have been paid) or about $278,560, miscellaneous production-related expenses total $120,000, expenses with concealing the laboratory add up to $165,000, while the lawyer/money-laundering fees are $54,000. As part of the methamphetamine production, all these activities are illegal, thus not recorded officially, and hence part of the underground economy. The figures associated with such activities may find their way into official data, however, as fictional activities/services conjured by money launderers. This illustrates once more the difficulty that arises from accurately measuring the volume of the economy be it as the gross domestic or gross national product.
This description comes from Duncan, Muchiri, and Paraschiv (Forthcoming)
After running out of their primary ingredient, Mike suggests that they go back to producing using pseudoephedrine. Walter quickly points on that their equipment isn’t designed for this and it will reduce their yield significantly. Mike argues that the alternative is not making anything at all and that making some product is better than making no product at all. This scene serves as a nice example of why firms may operate at a loss rather than shut down. As long as the price of the product is greater than average variable costs, firms will operate in the short run.
After a failed first attempt to gain full control over a key production input and get the blue methamphetamine off the market, Declan, a Phoenix-based dealer, meets with Jesse, Mike, and Walter. Right from the start, Walter tries and appears to succeed in convincing Declan that collaboration is the best path forward. This way, Walter’s superior blue methamphetamine remains in production and the methylamine, the key input, is used in the most efficient and profitable way. Further, Declan and his crew would serve as their distributor. This way the parties specialize according to their comparative advantage while all parties economize and gain from trade.
Lydia presents Walter with the opportunity of expanding into a new market (the Czech Republic). Lydia goes further and points out that entry should not be difficult given Walter’s high-purity “blue” methamphetamine and the inferior alternatives available there. Also, it is worth noting that such overseas expansion would not have been possible without Lydia’s expertise regarding global supply chains.
This clip represents a wonderful account of all the moving parts of Walter’s methamphetamine enterprise. Walter and Jesse cook, Lydia arranges and oversees the international shipments of methamphetamine, which are disguised as shipments of various chemicals between the subsidiaries of the multinational enterprise she works for, Todd coordinates the transportation operations, and Skyler is in charge of accounting and money laundering. Here, the division of labor and the comparative-advantage based specialization is what makes their enterprise successful. If one or two individuals tried to run the same operation (like when it was just Jesse and Walter), they would not be able to produce as efficiently. The downward sloping portion of the average total cost curve is the area where the benefits of specialization outweigh diminishing returns from adding additional workers.
Walter stops by to see Jesse. Reminiscing about the start of their partnership, they cannot help but wonder about sticking with the old recreational vehicle (RV) even when there was enough to replace it. While the RV served them well in their first attempts to cook methamphetamine, the two did not upgrade until they started working for Gus Fring. The ownership/endowment effect underlines the scenario in which some people are unwilling to exchange something that they possess for the same amount of money that they would pay for it (if not owning it). Walter and Jesse loved the RV even though it had, and brought them, many problems. From a rationality standpoint, they may have been too concerned with the sunk costs that they have incurred.
Walter drives to the desert to hide the cash generated by his methamphetamine enterprise but he runs out of gas. As he rolls one of the money-full barrels, he comes by a house and asks to buy the truck sitting in the driveway. Initially, the truck is not for sale but after he offers the man a large stack of money this changes. Next, we see Walter load the barrel in the back of the recently purchased vehicle. Each person/business has a reservation price at which they’re willing to sell products or services. For this lucky resident, it appears $10,000 was at or above his reservation price. If his reservation price was lower than $10,000 then he would hear producer surplus.
Walter is about to leave, but Saul takes some time to advise against it. While it may seem like he’s doing what’s best for his family, Saul explains how law enforcement will come after Skyler and ruin Walter’s family. Walter is making a private decision about what to do and what he believes is best, but he may be ignoring all of the costs he imposes on other people by running. Saul suggests that if he truly cares about his family then he’ll turn himself in.
Ed visits and cares for Walter. As Ed prepares to leave, Walter offers him $10,000 to stick around for two more hours. Ed takes the offer but only for one hour and the two start playing cards. Based on the earlier exchange, Ed’s reservation price for each hour is above $5,000 but below $10,000.
Walter loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. This simple meal is often the textbook example for complements in consumption. There are a variety of items that are often consumed alongside other items. When the price of one complement increases, it negatively impacts the consumption of the other.
After joining forces with Gus Fring, Walter learns about his new lab. The production facility is state of the art and includes some of the best equipment available on the market. This new equipment will allow Walt to produce even more of his blue meth than he could have previously imagined. Economies of scale are important in the production process. As facilities grow, their organization can begin producing large quantities, which lowers the average cost of production.
Gus and Walter discuss Walter’s decision to start cooking meth. Walt has debated the costs and benefits of his decisions throughout the show’s five seasons. Gus has an incentive to make sure Walter produces for him, so he tries to emphasize the importance of the benefits Walt has received and echoes how large those benefits are relative to the costs.
Walter has found a new friend in Gale and is surprised that a well-trained chemist decided to become a drug producer. The two of them aren’t the most obvious criminals. Gale believes his importance in the process is to help people get a clean product. Addicts will buy drugs without knowing what’s in them (asymmetric information), but at least Gale’s product is pure.
Walter rushes to the junkyard in order to make sure that recreational vehicle (RV), which he used for cooking methamphetamine and it is stored there, is destroyed. When he arrives, the junkyard owner, Old Joe, asks Walter why is he there. In doing so, Old Joe finds out that the DEA agents, who are interested in the RV, are coming there too. Further, he realizes that, as long as the RV is on his property, he could get in trouble, even if he does not actually own it. Property rights and the incentives to care for his business push Old Joe to demand Walter the RV removal. In addition to showing how property rights induce economic agents care for something they own, this video clip shows that people update their information sets and weigh costs and benefits when making decisions.
It looks like Hank has finally cost Jesse in the RV and he’s on the hunt to arrest him for meth production. In the process of trying to break into the RV, the owner of the junkyard asks if Hank has a warrant for the RV he’s trying to break into. While pleading his case, Hank doesn’t want to believe that he needs a warrant, but probable cause and the Fourth Amendment are in place to protect people and their personal property. It establish property rights and doesn’t allow the police to violate that property at their own will.
The benefit ($1.5 million) relative to the cost (time and effort) of cooking meth is different for Walter and Jesse. The benefits are obviously lower than the costs in Jesse case but not for Walter; as he seems happy with trading his time and effort for the cash. Even with clear and predictable benefits, people’s own subjective costs of their time can still make them disagree on the cost benefit analysis.
In a flashback to the pilot episode, Jesse and Walter are discussing the purchase of an RV to start cooking meth. The purchase of the famous RV would represent a fixed cost of production for their new business venture
Family meals are a great chance to see all the different complements and substitutes in a market. While milk and cereal are often consumed together (complements) there are other options people can decide upon to fulfill their breakfast need. Walter Jr opts for eggs and bacon (substitutes). The decision process involves weighing costs and benefits of alternatives.
Walt weighs the costs and benefits of his decision to start producing meth. The benefits are clear, the money will cover college tuition, tutors, mortgage payments, and all future expenses. The costs have been larger than Walter could imagine, but he believes all the benefits have outweighed the costs of his decisions.
Even drug manufacturers love peanut butter and jelly. This video clip shows Walter preparing himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The two items are often the most common examples used when discussing complements in consumption.
It’s time for Walter to quit so he stops by to visit Gus Fring. Gus wants to offer Walter 3 million dollars to keep making his blue meth for 3 more months, but even that amount isn’t worth it to Walt. Walter is trying to piece his life back together and believes that continuing to produce his blue meth isn’t worth the amount he’s giving up. Walter admits to Gus that he has more money than he knows what to do with. Even for the wealthy, there’s diminishing returns to acquiring more income.
Walter is shopping for primer for home renovations, but stumbles across a young man who is clearly purchasing the necessary inputs to start making meth. Because of his familiarity, Walter suggests that the young man change the type of matches he uses if he wants to make meth. These inputs are so specific to making crystal meth that Walter is able to recognize it immediately and even tells the young man that others will notice the combination of items he’s purchasing.
Now that Blue Sky (the methamphetamine cooked by Walter and Jesse) faces no other competition in the Albuquerque market, Walter realizes that the price of their product is too low. He goes on to add that, once the market is cornered, the price should be raised; “simple economics”.
Tuco is getting worried and suggests that they all move to Mexico so that the government will stop tracking them. Walter and Jesse aren’t keen on this idea because it means they’d have to give up their family, and that’s a cost Walter isn’t willing to make, even for lots of money. The whole reason he started making meth was to support his family, but Tuco doesn’t seem to understand the issue. He suggests that he can just get another family, implying they are substitutable.
After watching a gruesome beating, Jesse and Walter are officially scared of their new distributor, Tuco. Walter starts to calculate just how much money he needs to earn selling meth in order to take care of his family. Becker’s theory on the rational criminal suggests that criminals take the time to calculate the costs and benefits before committing their crimes. Walter is even careful to consider future inflation changes as he determines the appropriate amount to “invest.”
After promising their new distributor they could produce 4 pounds of meth, Jesse starts freaking out. When the original deal was 2 pounds, Jesse was concerned about being able to buy enough pseudoephedrine to produce that. After showing up at their earlier meeting with only half of a pound, it seems impossible that the two of them can make 4 pounds weekly. It turns out that Walter can chemically create the same effect, but he needs Jesse to pick up some supplies. The elasticity of supply often dictates that the responsiveness of a good depends on how easily other substitutes can be acquired.
Tuco shows up in a junkyard expecting to purchase 2 pounds of meth from Walter and Jesse, but the two of them only brought about half a pound. Tuco isn’t happy because he’s wasted his time coming out for such a small quantity and isn’t too keen on their excuses. He docks part of their pay for “wasting his time.” All of our actions, including taking time to do something, has costs even if the price is zero. People often forget the value of their time, but not Tuco.
Walter finds a distributor to sell his meth to, but it requires that the two of them produce two pounds per week when they were previously making only one pound. Walter doesn’t see the issue because it wouldn’t take that much more time, but he’s excited for the significant increase in income from this deal. What Walter doesn’t realize is that there are capacity constraints when it comes to the inputs. Jesse is responsible for acquiring pseudoephedrine, which is the necessary ingredient to produce meth. Because of various US laws aimed at preventing pseudoephedrine to be used in meth, customers at drugstores can only purchased a fixed quantity at a time. Jesse drives hundreds of miles to collect pseudoephedrine from “smurfs,” but that can only produce 1/2 pound of meth each week. He doesn’t realistically see how the two of them can find enough pseudoephedrine to produce the two pounds of meth per week their new distributor is requesting. Luckily, Walter is a VERY good chemist!
There’s an arrest on school property, and Hank shares why he believes the janitor was responsible for the recent thefts at the school. The theft corresponds to popular equipment used to make meth, and the janitor (Mr. Archilleya) had a past record for possession of marijuana, had access to the school, and during a search of his vehicle, had possession of marijuana. Skyler is confused how Hugo could even get a job at a school with his record, but Walt notes Hugo doesn’t seem like a drug dealer. This is a classic example of mixing correlation with causation. Just because Hugo has markers that could potentially make him a criminal, it doesn’t mean that it would cause him to be willing to steal from his employer. Society often mixes correlation with causation, which results in some unfortunate outcomes.
Jesse brings in the revenue from the first batch of meth, and Walter is less than impressed with the amount of money that has come in. Walter had made a pound of meth (16 ounces), but Jesse has only sold 1 ounce because he’s selling it directly to users. Walter isn’t happy with the payoff because he feels the risk he is taking by breaking the law should result in a lot more profit. The two brainstorm ways to sell in larger quantities, but it turns out they had earlier killed the one person they knew who would be buy in bulk. By selling in larger quantities, the two can lower their average fixed costs (economies of scale), but it also means that they’re going to have to find a partner to do that because Jesse doesn’t have a big enough footprint to sell that much dope.
Now that Skyler knows about Walter’s cancer, they are on the lookout for ways to finance his healthcare. Skyler reaches out to one of the best oncologists in the country, but the first consultation alone is priced at about $5,000. This is not something a typical family in the United States can afford. However, the two could use their credit card or borrow the money form Hank, Skyler’s brother in law. Nevertheless, the reason this particular doctor is so expensive is because he is not part of their Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), which works to lower copay and further costs for those covered by insurance. In this regard, a health care system akin to the one in the United States can be a bit confusing and hard to navigate especially for the poor and less educated. This clip represents an interesting way to start the discussion of how individuals pay for medical care.
Jesse and Walter debate on the best way to start the business. At first, Walter is surprised that Jesse doesn’t want to cook in the garage, but Walter is just as reluctant to cook at his house. The two consider renting a storage unit, but eventually settle on purchasing a recreational vehicle. When starting a business, companies must decide whether to start by renting property, which may have lower costs initially or building and owning their own property.
There are tradeoffs to the two, and this situation is explored often in the decision for young adults to continue renting or purchasing their own home. The clip also serves as a good introduction to risk and uncertainty. Although it would be cheaper to begin production in their own homes, it is also VERY risky. Safe options often mean spending more money upfront.
Walter tracks down his former student, Jesse, with the intention of collaborating with him in the production of methamphetamine. Walter’s intentions become obvious once he starts revealing that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has apprehended Jesse’s former business partner. Walter goes further and adds, “But you know the business and I know the chemistry. I’m thinking … maybe you and I could partner up.”
While Jesse has performed both tasks in the past, there is little doubt that Walter, because of his chemistry knowledge and perhaps better task-management skills, is more productive at making methamphetamine as well as distributing it. Even though Walter has absolute advantage in cooking and distributing methamphetamine, the logic of comparative advantage tells us that Walter and Jesse should collaborate. More specifically, Walter should cook while Jesse should distribute/sell the methamphetamine.
Incentives, and how individuals respond to incentives, represent another key economics concept. In this clip, Walter’s offer for a partnership deal comes with a catch:
Jesse: “You wanna cook crystal meth? You. You and me.” Walter: “That’s right. Either that, or I turn you in.”
Walter threatens to inform the DEA about the methamphetamine business if Jesse chooses not to join the partnership. Here, Walter is encouraging some action (joining him) by issuing a threat (turning Jesse in). Their interaction represents an ultimatum game, in which Walter’s threat is an example of a negative incentive.
This description comes from Duncan, Muchiri, and Paraschiv (Forthcoming).
This clip shows Walter’s preference for producing superior products. In an inspired scene, Walter states: “You and I will not make garbage products. We will produce a chemically pure and stable product. One that performs as advertised. No adulterants. No baby formula. No chili powder.”
Why should Walter care about how his product performs? Why should product quality matter, especially when traded in a black market characterized by a relatively inelastic demand?
Product differentiation and quality, customer satisfaction, monopolistic competition, and market power can be discussed using this scene. As the show progresses, for example, viewers learn that Walter’s product is the best in the market, highly sought after, and blue. This last characteristic is especially important when learning about the white-colored competing methamphetamine. Product characteristics shape its substitutability and determine the elasticity of its demand or why brand products are often priced differently from generic products.
This description comes from Duncan, Muchiri, and Paraschiv (Forthcoming).
The Economics of Breaking Bad 